Bedford celebrate as Hinton's magnificent late kick pips Albion

Bedford 14 - Plymouth Albion 13

A 76th-minute penalty by the Bedford centre Leigh Hinton snatched the Powergen Challenge Shield from a dogged Plymouth Albion side on Saturday.

A 76th-minute penalty by the Bedford centre Leigh Hinton snatched the Powergen Challenge Shield from a dogged Plymouth Albion side on Saturday.

The Blues had trailed from the first minute of the game after Alfie Too'ala's try, but slowly ate away the Albion lead as they played with increasing authority in the second half. Albion's defence was superb throughout, but Bedford's forward dominance eventually told.

Plymouth exploded into life with a try in the opening minute from the Samoan flanker Too'ala. The scrum-half Brian Shelbourne intercepted Ian Vass's pass from the base of the scrum and scampered 50 metres before being caught by the cover defence. Albion's forwards were quick to support and Too'ala peeled off the side of the ensuing ruck and dived over in the corner. James Pritchard converted.

Matt Carrington and Hinton exchanged penalties to make the score 10-3 to Albion, and Plymouth went further ahead when Carrington dropped back into the pocket after some sustained pressure and dropped a neat goal.

Hinton replied on 29 minutes with a well-struck penalty from the 10-metre line. He had another chance in the 36th minute, but his kick drifted past the left upright. Albion looked to have scored their second try of the game on the brink of half-time after Matt Staten fumbled a kick and the full-back Luke Arscott collected and dived over. However, the referee Bruce Robertson disallowed the try and instead awarded Albion a five-metre scrum.

Bedford's forwards began to exert some control from the beginning of the second half, but they were unable to translate their possession into points. Their former Northampton and England fly-half Ali Hepher went close with a fine break but he was hauled down short of the line. Hinton's simple missed penalty from in front of the posts added to their frustration.

However, Bedford finally got a reward for their dominance when Mark Harris finished off a crisp move and dived over to make it 13-11 with 16 minutes to go - before Hinton missed the conversion.

He got it right when it mattered, though, with his magnificent late effort winning the game for the Midlanders despite a desperate late rally from Albion.

Bedford: Try Harris; Penalties Hinton 3.

Plymouth Albion: Try Too'ala; Conversion Pritchard; Penalties Carrington 2.

Bedford: M Harris; M Staten, L Hinton, M Allen, C Moir; A Hepher, I Vass; M Volland, C Johnson, J Brooks, J Phillips, A Brenton, N Strauss, B Lewitt, J Paramore.

Plymouth Albion: L Arscott; L Robinson, N Saumi, K Fisilau, J Pritchard; M Carrington, B Shelbourne; D Parkes, S Friswell, T Paoletti, B Luxton, A Perry, A Too'ala, D Thomas, D Ward-Smith.

Referee: B Robertson (Warwickshire).