Ampthill suffered a heavy 45-24 defeat at Camborne against Cornish Pirates after a first half set-piece domination from the hosts, but scored two late tries to secure a valuable try bonus-point following a much–improved second half showing.
The early stages of the encounter were cagey, with many unforced errors from both sides in tough conditions, but the Pirates broke the deadlock in the 10th minute with the first fluent attacking passage of the match. Playing on penalty advantage inside their own 22, the hosts spread the ball with pace out wide, and following some sublime speed and hands on the break, winger Arthur Relton broke through a tackle to dive across the try line.
In what was running theme in the first half, Ampthill were disappointing at scrum time, and with the discipline going whilst under severe pressure, the hosts took full advantage to extended their lead to 19-0 less than 20 minutes into the match. The tries were scored by hooker Sol Moody, who peeled off the back of two dominant rolling mauls to crash his way over the whitewash in the 16th and 19th minutes respectively.
The Mob responded the Pirates’ third try almost immediately, reducing the arrears to 19-7 in the 22nd minute with their first try of the game. After building the phases near the hosts’ try line, Totoa Auvaa broke through a tackle and forced his way over to give Ampthill a lifeline after a difficult 10 minute period.
With the Mob’s physicality falling away as the half went on, the Pirates took full control of the match before half–time, scoring three tries at the end of the first period to take a commanding 38-7 lead into the break.
After a poor display in the opening period, Ampthill came out of the blocks with fresh intent at the beginning of the half, and scored their second try of the match just four minutes after the resumption. After Cornish Pirates fly-half Arwel Robson was sent to the bin, the Mob put together a dominant rolling maul, with replacement hooker Harrison Dakin applying the finish.
The Mob continued to play with great intensity, but another Cornish Pirates try extended the hosts’ lead to 45-12 in the 48th minute. Following a knock-on in midfield from Ampthill, a brilliant kick through from Dan Hiscocks was dotted down by winger Matty Ward after he won the foot race down the left-hand side.
Despite the match being out of sight, the Mob’s performance continued improve significantly as the second half went on.Replacements Harrison Dakin, Jevaughn Warren and Jake Parkinson stood up brilliantly in the pack, massively improving the set-piece and enabled fellow substitutes scrum-half Rory Morgan and Captain Fraser Strachan to have strong impact in the back line.
Ampthill ended the game dominating the territory and playing purposeful rugby, and secured the try bonus-point with two more tries in the remaining 15 minutes of the match. An accurate, loopy pass neat the hosts’ try line from Rory Morgan was well claimed and dotted down by Oscar Wilson on the left hand side in the 67th minute, punishing the Pirates for an earlier sin-binning for Milo Hallam. Harrison Courtney scored the bonus-point try with four minutes remaining, the final try of the match, after a superb offload from Justin Mataele close to the sticks.
Ampthill Points Scorers:
Tries: Auvaa 22, Dakin 44, Wilson 67, Courtney 76
Conversions: Grimoldby 23, Barton 77