Albion had failed on 10 previous attempts to win in Division One on their travels.
They had claimed cup wins on the road but their league record was beginning to become something of a burden.
But that burden has been lifted from Albion’s shoulders thanks to a storming second half showing at Cross Green.
Having been 11-3 down at half-time, Albion turned on the style in the second period to score four tries to win 31-16 and claim a valuable bonus point.
That victory will have given Albion some confidence, which they will need this weekend when they take on their local rivals Exeter Chiefs, who are believed to have the biggest playing budget and squad in Division One.
Exeter will arrive at Brickfields having tasted just one defeat this season - a 14-13 home reverse to league leaders Leeds.
But derby matches can be hard to predict and form sometimes goes out of the window.
Albion and Exeter have been meeting in some form for over 100 years.
During that time both sides have had periods as Devon’s top team.
Albion had some big wins over Exeter in the 80s, while the Chiefs enjoyed some impressive victories in the 90s.
The teams have met 17 times in league rugby, with Exeter winning nine times, Albion seven and one game ending in a 7-7 draw.
Exeter have won the last four games – but only just - while Albion were unbeaten in the previous six encounters.
There have been some memorable games between the teams over the years.
Nine of the last 12 matches have been decided by just one score, including a draw and three one point winning margins.
Probably the most eagerly-awaited encounter came after Albion had just been promoted back into Division One.
Devon’s top two sides had not met in a league encounter for nearly six years, although they did play a fiercely contested Devon Cup game at the County Ground which saw Albion have two players sent off.
The first league game for nearly six years took place in December 2002 and the weather was terrible, with torrential rain all day.
The Beacon Park pitch ended up a mud bath and supporters could hardly tell the sides apart.
The interest in the game even saw local television record the match for a special programme, which went out on the Sunday.
Albion tried to throw a surprise by signing former England A centre Chris Yates in the week and attempting to keep his arrival secret. However, Exeter found out and made it known to the press.
The game was extremely competitive. Albion scored the only try, but Exeter won 12-5 courtesy of four Tony Yapp penalties.
Just as memorable as the game was Ian Bremner’s strange quote afterwards where he said: “One a dry day we would have murdered them”, which did nothing to help relations between the two sides.
And the corresponding game at the County Ground saw relations between the two clubs deteriorate further.
In a bad-tempered clash Exeter won 39-22, with Yapp’s boot again influential as he collected 24 of his side’s points, but the home side had three players sin-binned.
Brenmer was livid that three of his players were yellow card and Albion did not have any. He hit out at Albion’s style of play and the Chiefs decided to cite three Albion players – player-coaches Graham Dawe and Brett McCormack and lock Olly Kohn after the match.
Albion responded by citing three Exeter players – Danny Porte, Rob Baxter and Dave Simms.
As it was five of the six received bans. The only players to get off was Dawe, who had his case dismissed for lack of evidence.
After that game, Albion dominated the next six derby matches – but they did have a bit of luck along the way.
They won 19-17 in November 2003 at the County Ground when Tony Yapp missed two late kicks.
Yapp also missed a last-gasp penalty in September 2004 when Albion won 17-16 at Brickfields.
Albion also won the corresponding game at the County Ground that season by one point, thanks to an injury-time try by James Pritchard. The try came out of nothing and sent the thousands of travelling followers wild as the win put Albion in poll position at the time for promotion.
The biggest derby win in 10 years came on the opening day of the 2006-07 season when Albion won 35-13. The win was actually even easier than the scoreline suggested and the game saw Nic Sestaret, now at Exeter, score his first try for Albion.
That season’s corresponding fixture at the County Ground was a tight nail-biting affair that looked like it was heading for a 0-0 draw - which happened quite a few times between Albion and Exeter before league rugby came in - until Nat Saumi dived over in the right corner late on.
That was Albion’s last win, but they should have triumphed on their first visit to Sandy Park in October 2006.
Graham Dawe’s side dominated the first half and led 14-0. However, it should have been more, but somehow Wihan Neethling failed to score under the posts that would have put the visitors 21-0 up.
And Albion paid for not taking their chances after the interval with Exeter winning 18-14.
The Chiefs won the next two derby games 20-13 and 28-19, but the last clash again came down to the last kick of the game.
Albion were 11-10 down at Sandy Park in December, but were awarded a penalty 30 metres out deep in injury-time.
Ross Laidlaw stepped up knowing he could win the game for his team, but, despite most supporters thinking his kick was good, the ball just missed the far upright and Exeter breathed a might sigh of relief.
Who knows where this weekend’s game with be half as exciting as some of the recent encounters?
But there will sure to be a big crowd at Brickfields hoping so.
Some of the crowd may even remember when Albion’s first team was nicknamed the Chiefs.
Like many clubs at a certain time, Albion had teams called the Chiefs and United.
Now no Albion fan in their right mind would use the name Chiefs to talk about any team at Brickfields.
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