TAUNTON Titans welcomed a bumper crowd to their opening pre-season friendly as National One outfit Plymouth Albion visited the Commsplus Stadium on Saturday.

The home team had new signings Dan Lee, Sam Kennaugh, Jack Arnott and Frankie Dart in their starting XV and the majority of the first half was level at 7-7, Nick Mason scoring the Titans’ try.

Albion went over twice in the half’s closing stages to take a 19-7 lead into the interval, an advantage they stretched to 33-7 in the second half.

Ben Oliphant-Thompson charged over late on to give Taunton the last word but the visitors ran out 33-14 winners.

Taunton had plenty of positives to take away from their performance and the scoreline could have been closer if the hosts had finished off a couple of presentable opportunities.

The match was enjoyed by a crowd of around 800, swelled by the offer of free entry and a number of travelling fans from Plymouth, and sets Taunton up nicely for their remaining friendlies against Exeter University, Cardiff Met University and Ivybridge.