Rugby Union: Ampthill close in on play-off berth

Paul Davies

Ampthill won their penultimate National League Two (South) game 61-23 at Bournemouth on Saturday, meaning they need only take the one league point next Saturday, at home to London Irish Wild Geese, to qualify for the National Two play-off final on May 3.

“We took something of a risk, leaving a lot of our big guns on the bench,” said Mark Lavery, Ampthill’s Director of Rugby. “We rested Raven, Burke, and Sproston, for example, but the advantage that gives you is the ability to unload that kind of quality late on in he game.”

Ampthill took a while to get going, conceding early tries, and trailed their hosts 17-3 with twenty minutes on the clock.

“We made our typical start, giving them a couple of tries,” said Lavery. “But after twenty minutes, or so, we found our shape, we started running our patterns, and once we’d started doing that there was only one team in it.”

Paul Davies, Tarrant and Maama Molitika scored Ampthill’s first-half tries, with Elliot Clements-Hill on target with one conversion and two penalties to send Ampthill in 23-17 up at half time.

An early Bournemouth penalty reduced the Ampthill lead to 23-20 five minutes into the second period, but as the game wore on Ampthill tries began to register and the gulf in class began to show.

Ten minutes into the second half Clements-Hill crossed the whitewash, and added the conversion, which restored Ampthill’s ten-point advantage and guaranteed the four-try bonus point for the afternoon. A league point that moved them back into second place in National 2 (South).

Five minutes later ex-Tongan international Vili Ma’asi responded to Bournemouth kicking a penalty by scoring two tries, the first on 56 minutes, the second on 63 minutes, both converted by Clements-Hill, which extended the Ampthill advantage to 44-23 with a quarter of the game still to play.

In the final ten minutes, Ampthill continued to press and score, Davies, pictured, adding to his earlier try on 71 minutes, and Clements-Hill getting his second of the afternoon three minutes later.

Davies’ hat-trick, scored with two minutes left on the clock, was Ampthill’s ninth try of the afternoon, and the 1000th point scored in twenty nine league games played by the club this season.

“We’ve still got to take care of London Irish next weekend,” said Lavery. “They lost today, so will be coming to us right in the middle of a relegation dogfight, and they’re a good side, so that’ll be far from easy.”

Also this weekend, Ampthill’s second XV beat Bury St Edmonds 43-3 to claim the Division 2 North Merit-League Title, and will now face the winners of Division 2 South in the ‘Zoo Sports’ Sponsored Division Two Champions League Final, to be played at Dillingham Park, next Saturday afternoon. “These are exciting times at Ampthill Rugby Club,” said Lavery. “It’s the place to come for any young player that has ambition.”

Article source: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/apr/22/five-rugby-union-players-of-2013-14-mike-brown

Rugby Union: Ampthill close in on play-off berth