Ampthill scored over 60 points for the third straight match on the Olney Field and in the process secured their fifth consecutive Elior Champ Rugby victory.
The Ravers started the match well putting the Mob under pressure from the starting whistle and raced into a 0-10 lead after 13 minutes of the contest. Kennedy Sylvester illegally stopped a Caldy rolling maul near the try line in the 6th minute, resulting in a penalty try and a yellow card to the Ampthill lock. Just before the end of the sin bin period, Caldy fly-half Kieran Wilkinson slotted a penalty from in front of the sticks to give the visitors a commanding early lead.
The Mob fought their way back into the match, reducing Caldy’s lead to three points just three minutes later, with Sione Va’enuku applying the finish after being fed the ball by Efan Jones off the back of an attacking scrum from close range.
Ampthill scored two tries in the last 10 minutes of the first half to take a 19-10 lead into the break. After Efan Jones took the Mob close to the line following a quick tap penalty, Kennedy Sylvester forced his way over in the 30th minute, and seven minutes later the Welsh scrum-half applied the finish after a superb Ampthill counter attack but the game was finely poised as the two teams headed back to the changing rooms at oranges.
The Mob started the second half sharper than the first and secured the try bonus-point in the 51st minute after a superb solo run from Sione Va’enuku, who broke a tackle and weaved his way to the line from just outside the Caldy 22.
A Valentino Mapapalangi brace in the space of four minutes extended the lead to 40-10. His first try was in the 56th minute, forcing his way over after breaking off the base of the scrum 5 metres from the Caldy line, and for his second score he applied a simple finish after receiving an outstanding offload close to the line from Kennedy Sylvester, following a show and go from the lock.
The Mob continued to play with a lot of attacking freedom, and just four minutes later Sione Va’enuku sealed his hat-trick, finishing in the left hand corner after sublime passage of play that started inside the Ampthill half.
Caldy scored their only try of the second half with eight minutes remaining, with winger Will Robinson having acres of space to walk it in from close range on the left hand side.
Ampthill ended the game in style, scoring three tries in the final six minutes to put gloss on another resounding home win. Finn Keylock finished in the right corner in the 74th minute after an exceptional side-step and pass from Luke Davidson, and Barney Merrett put the finishing touches on stunning team try in the 77th minute. With the last play of the match, Oscar Wilson sprinted all the way to the try line from halfway after a superb line break and pass from Joe Heslop.
Speaking after his side’s win on the Olney Field, forwards player-coach Richard Barrington said, “Caldy are always a tough team to come up against, they’ve got a strong forward pack and put us into areas we didn’t want to play in during the first half, but in the second half we took our attacking game to a new level. In the forward pack I thought Ollie Mullarkey and Kennedy Sylvester played really well but It was a big team effort from the forwards and backs and a great result”.
Ampthill Points Scorers
Tries: Va’enuku 16, 51, 64; Sylvester 30, Jones 37, Mapapalangi 56, 60; Keylock 74, Merrett 77, Wilson 79
Conversions: Davidson 17, 31, 52, 57, 61; Keylock 65, 80
Attendance: 1036
Man of the Match sponsored by Carlsberg Britvic: Sione Va’enuku