APPARENTLY the big fella in red isn't supposed to arrive for another three days, but knowing how busy he's likely to be – perhaps he opted on hitting Plymouth a little earlier as he delivered a timely present for Albion and their supporters.

Not since New Year's Eve in 2005 have Graham Dawe's team secured a win against their nearest and dearest from just up the Devon Expressway. That statistic, however, was duly corrected on Saturday as Albion blew away arch rivals Exeter Chiefs 23-13 with a potent performance at the Brickfields.

The victory – an emphatic one at that – not only warmed up the hearts of the home faithful on a bitingly cold afternoon, but it also condemned the visiting Chiefs to their first reverse in the Championship this season.

From the outset, Albion tore into the Chiefs with a gusto that the league leaders simply could not handle. Not only did they appear to want it more, but they had devised a game plan which, to all intents and purposes, the visitors could not really fathom out until the latter stages of the contest.

By then, however, Albion were already cruising to four points and their seventh league victory of the season.

All game, though, the Chiefs looked like a side who had their minds elsewhere. Whereas many times this season they have consistently mapped out their routes to victory, this time round they struggled to find their bearings.

Their lost outlook appeared to start as soon as they docked into port at Plymouth. On first glance at the frosty Brickfields surface, the Chiefs immediately displayed their first weakness of the day.

Exeter officials were clearly not happy with the state of the hardened pitch, but following detailed dialogue between themselves, their Albion counterparts and match referee Rowan Kitt, the pitch was deemed playable and the match was officially on.

With both sides showing changes from their previous weekend wins – Albion recorded a superb win at Bedford, while the Chiefs overcame struggling Coventry – a hefty early collision between Darren Clayton (Albion) and Stuart Alcott (Exeter) resulted in both players departing proceedings inside the opening ten minutes.

Despite the re-jig for both sides, it was Albion who broke the game's deadlock on 15 minutes when, following a formidable driving maul into Exeter's 22, referee Kitt penalised the Chiefs for blatantly pulling down with a penalty try, which home fly-half Alex Davies converted.

Five minutes later, the Chiefs countered with their first points of the afternoon. Fly-half Gareth Steenson plundering a 25-metre penalty after the home side had infringed at a scrum.

Up and running at last, the Chiefs could – and probably should – have added to their tally. Wily prop Chris Budgen was causing no end of problems for opposite number Martin Rice at scrum time.

However, when Rice was sin-binned in the 28th minute for again dropping the scrum, the Chiefs were unable to make their man advantage pay. At least three times they got to within five metres of the home line, but either they knocked on or were guilty of trying to over-complicate matters when in the strike zone.

They were to prove costly errors as their only reward whilst Rice was sitting in the cooler was a second penalty from Steenson, this after Albion's Tongan centre Sione Tu'ipolotu had strayed offside in midfield.

With playing parity finally restored, the Chiefs again threatened just before the break when centres Matt Cornwell and Phil Dollman combined nicely to put flanker James Scaysbrook clear in space. However, the former Bath powerhouse spurned another golden opportunity when he spilled the ball while in a cracking attacking position.

Having survived the Exeter onslaught, Albion preceded to turn defence into attack as they extended their lead in first-half stoppage time. Again another driving maul was key to their endeavours as this time Exeter No.8 Richard Baxter was the man pinged for infringing and up stepped Davies to fire Albion into a 10-6 lead at the break.

On the resumption, Albion were again first to show as they had two early chances to add to their tally. First, Davies failed with a penalty chance after Cornwell had failed to roll away from the tackle area; then full-back Mark Lee screwed a long-range punt wide of the left post after Davies had been checked with a crude late hit.

Davies did atone for his earlier miss on 52 minutes, however, when he extended Albion's lead to seven points with a second penalty after Budgen had been ruled the guilty culprit at an untidy ruck.

With the Chiefs seemingly wilting by the minute, Albion continued to go for the Exeter jugular. Up front their industrious pack were pulling together superbly, while behind the backs orchestrated things with consummate ease.

Davies and Lee – in a similar game plan to that adopted to the home clash with the Cornish Pirates earlier this season – continually put the Chiefs on the back foot with a string of lengthy kicks which forced the visitors to attack from deep inside their own half.

Attempting to run the ball – when they could – the Chiefs were subsequently met by an Albion defensive wall which was hell bent on letting nothing proceed past it.

The frustrations in the Exeter camp were growing by the minute – a point borne out when lock Chris Bentley was yellow carded for charging into a ruck illegally. From the resultant penalty, up stepped Davies to land another telling body blow.

However, it that was bad for the Chiefs, what followed on 62 minutes was even worse. Opting to kick a penalty to the corner, the Albion eight formed tightly to create another line-out drive which, aided by a couple of backs, sped its way over the whitewash for a second try.

As the assembled mass of bodies emerged from the icy deck, it was Tongan international Keni Fisilau who received the plaudits for the score, which Davies converted from wide out to make it 23-6.

Although there was still another quarter of the contest to go, the Chiefs looked a beaten bunch. They did, however, rally during the final period of play and were rewarded with a try from Mark Foster ten minutes from time.

A sustained spell of pressure from the visitors saw them ship the ball at pace from one side of the field to the other, the ball eventually finding its way to the former Gloucester winger who was able to dot down in the right corner following Dollman's slick pass. Steenson obliged with the difficult conversion attempt, but that would be the end of the day's scoring.

Albion soundly saw out the final minutes of the game doing what they know best – keeping the ball tight and not allowing their rivals a sniff of possession.

It was clever stuff from the home side who, having endured a somewhat mixed first half to the season, have suddenly hit form in the past month or so. Next up for them is a trip across the Tamar to the Cornish Pirates, while the Chiefs must look to bounce back against second- placed Bristol at Sandy Park.