An Efan Jones hat-trick inspired Ampthill to their second straight bonus-point home victory in the Champ, defeating Nottingham 36-27 in a 10 try thriller on a cold and windy afternoon on the Olney Field.
There were many handling errors and misplaced passes in the opening stages in tough conditions, but eventually the deadlock was broken in the 17th minute with Nottingham scoring the first try of the match. After dumping the ball to James Cherry off the back of a lineout in the Ampthill 22, the No.8 cut a great line and dived across the whitewash almost untouched.
The Mob responded quickly after falling behind, and crossedthe whitewash just three minutes later to take a 7-5 lead following Efan Jones first try and a Finn Keylock conversion. After building the phases near the Nottingham try line, Jones sniped through a small gap in the Nottingham defence to dive across the try line.
Following a yellow card to Ampthill prop Callum Norrie for the Mob’s persistent infringements near their own try line in the 26th minute, Nottingham retook the lead a minute later with their second try. A dominant rolling maul took the Archers all the way to the try line, with Michael Green falling over the whitewash with ease.
After Norrie’s return from the sin bin, Ampthill scored with the final play of the first half to take a 14-10 lead into the break. Once again scrum-half Efan Jones caught the Nottingham defence unaware, dotting down from close range following more sustained pressure from the Mob.
Ampthill hammered home their advantage in the opening 25 minutes of the second half, securing the try bonus point after scoring two unanswered tries to extend their lead to 26-10. Efan Jones secured his hat-trick in the 56th minute after Sam Kildunne unselfishly passed to him inside the in-goal area after speeding away down the left-hand side. Just six minutes later No.8 Ollie Mullarkey pulled off a superb solo score, running it in from halfway after bouncing off a last–ditch tackle before diving over in the corner.
Nottingham responded with their third try of the afternoon seven minutes later to reduce the arrears to 26-17, following Charlie West’s one and only successful conversion of the match. Another dominant rolling maul from close range resulted in replacement hooker Jack Dickinson diving over unopposed.
Finn Keylock slotted a penalty in the 72nd minute to stretchAmpthill’s lead to 12 points, but only a minute later the Archers secured their try bonus point to get within a converted score of the Mob. Winger Harry Graham sprinted into a gaping hole in Ampthill’s defence before feeding fellow back Alex Garrett on his right, who strolled across the whitewash.
The Mob effectively sealed the win with their 5th and final try of the match with four minutes remaining, extending the lead to 36-22. After Oscar Wilson’s initial line break took Ampthill to halfway, he released Sam Kildunne on his outside and following another burst from the winger, Kildunne provided the decisive inside pass to Sione Va’enuku, who raced clear to score.
Nottingham scored the final try of the match as the clock went into the red, taking advantage of a Lekima Ravuvu yellow card for a high hit. They tapped and went, and eventually James Cherry forced his way over, but it was too little too late for the Archers with Ampthill securing a deserved 36-27 bonus point victory.
Speaking after his side’s 4th win in their last 5 Champ Rugby games, Ampthill head coach Dave Ward said, “I was pleased with the way we stood up to the challenge, it was cold, it wasnot going to be for the faint-hearted, but I think the most pleasing aspect were the way we started the game and obviously the second half. We really got a foot hold in, I thought Finn Keylock managed the game brilliantly and put us in the right areas and then the backs did the rest”.
Ampthill Points Scorers
Tries: Jones 21, 39, 56; Mullarkey 62, Va’enuku 76
Conversions: Keylock 18, 40, 57, 77
Penalties: Keylock 72
Attendance: 804
Man of the Match sponsored by Carlsberg Britvic: Efan Jones