29 September 2009: Albi 21 Castres 25. Castres climb to third in the Top 14 with a win at Albi that was more comfortable than the 25-21 scoreline suggests.

Three tries in 13 minutes either side of half-time secured a bonus point for the visitors, whose Swine Flu scare in early September caused the match to be postponed until today. Latest league table

Albi took an early 6-3 lead through two penalties for Frederic Manca to a sole effort from Romain Teulet, although Teulet missed a chance to level the scores shortly after Manca's second success, and Castres should have scored a try two minutes later when centre Thomas Sanchou released No.8 Josefa Tekori, only for Albi winger Dave Vainqueur to rip the ball out of the Samoan's hands.

Castres pressure finally paid off when an indisciplined Albi conceded a penalty on the halfway line, and Cameron McIntyre stepped up to kick them level at 6-all. There was an instant response from Manca when Carl Hoeft was penalised for a shoulder charge from the restart, and the Albi fly-half kicked the 25-metre penalty to restore Albi's lead.

Shortly before the interval, McIntyre added a try to his earlier howitzer kick, Uruguayan lock Rodrigo Capo Ortega carrying the ball to the 22-metre line, and McIntyre took quick ball, sold a dummy and cut inside to score a try that Teulet converted.

Kevin Boulogne kicked a mammoth 50-metre drop goal on the stroke of half-time to reduce Castres' lead to 13-12, but the visitors wasted no time after the break to establish an eight-point lead. Marc Andreu came off the wing to take a looping pass and burst through Albi's defence to score under the posts. Teulet converted, but after Albi's Yohan Misse had been yellow carded for a high tackle on Andreu he missed an easy penalty and Manca struck back with a drop goal.

But Castres were in no mood to let their fifth win of the season slip, and 12 minutes into the half Tekori sliced a huge gap in the Albi back line, linked with Chris Masoe and Andreu for Yohann Audrin to cut inside and score the bonus-point try.

But Albi weren't to be beaten, and Manca's fourth penalty made it 25-18 to Castres, who soon regained control, first Sanchou and then McIntyre - back on for the last 10 minutes after a sinbinning for a high tackle on Lucas Borges - cutting the home defence to ribbons only for the final passes to fall.

Bernard Lapeyre did kick a late penalty - contrary to coach Eric Bechu's call for a kick to touch - to guarantee a bonus point, but Castres held on to put their season back on track after three games without a win, and bring Albi back down to earth after the weekend's maiden victory over Bayonne.