Second Half Defense Secures Promotion To National 1
Ampthill welcomed Bishop’s Storftford to Dillingham Park on a bright, dry spring afternoon with a chilly easterly breeze, perfect playing conditions and a record crowd. Amps squad saw one change in the pack and two on the bench.
The first quarter belonged to the visitors who denied Amps possession, forced the hosts on the back foot and took the lead while the home side were a man down. Returned to a full complement A’s began to get their patterns working scoring three tries in the second quarter. The second half was somehow scoreless for 35 minutes with both sides guilty of spurning chances and the visitors asking all the questions.
The opening exchanges were characterised by slick play from Stortford who were effective moving the ball and were in Ampthill’s faces forcing turnovers and denying any continuity. A series of 5m lineouts saw Ampthill’s defence stretched resulting in a a 7th minute yellow card for lock Karl Braband. The visitors chose another lineout and after several phases moved the ball from left to right where they had numbers over for full back George Cullen to touch down an unconverted try in the 9th minute.
Amps defence held firm thereafter and the return to a full compliment signalled a step up in performance. Fly half Joseph Tarrant broke the line on two occasions but the support wasn’t there in time to threaten a score until the offence clicked, repeatedly driving through the Bishop’s Stortford defence in mid-field, resulting in a series of phases in the red zone from which which blindside flanker Matthew Burke burrowed over from close range on 20 minutes, Tarrant adding the extras.
At this time the hosts suffered a blow when centre Brendan Burke was forced to leave the field with an ankle injury, scrum half Gareth Williams moved to outside centre with Kevin Barratt his replacement
A mid-field breakdown offence against the visitors was received with ironic applause as the penalty count had thus far been against the hosts, the resulting penalty was kicked to the visitors 22m. A trademark lineout catch & drive saw hooker Viliami Ma’asi come up with the ball in the 28th minute, Tarrant converting from the right touchline.
The 34th minute saw a near identical try scored wide on the left, the maul was taken down just short of the line but loosehead Joseph Sproston crashed over from the ruck for an unconverted try. The home side had another chance to extend their lead before the half time whistle but failed to capitalise leaving the score 19-5 at oranges.
The second half began as the first finished with A’s on the attack but spurning another clear cut chance to put the game away when a two on one was ignored in favour of contact with nobody home in the back field.
Stortford responded with a period of pressure where try as they might, Ampthill could not get out of their half, multiple set pieces saw Amps defence pounded but holding firm. The 57th minute saw A’s back down to 14 players when left wing Gareth Clarke was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on but still the home side refused to concede. They were helped in this regard by the visitors being inaccurate with the final pass a couple of times but the defensive effort was outstanding.
A controversial moment followed when referee Marcus Caton appeared to award a try to the visitors in the 60th minute after a lineout drive had splintered but then changed his mind after a consultation with his assistant, Ampthill took the ball against the head at the ensuing 5m scrum to temporarily relieve the pressure.
However, Stortford were in the ascendancy and continued to put Amps under pressure who responded by, if anything, raising their defensive game. The visitors by now had a marked superiority in the scrum and used it to take one against the head wide on the right and spin the ball to the left where the line was finally breached in the 75th minute by left wing James Rea who touched down for an unconverted try by the left corner flag.
The remainder of the game saw the hosts hold firm against the frantic efforts of the visitors until the referee blew for no side in the 5th minute of time added on.
A record crowd enjoyed a wonderful, never to be repeated occasion with both sets of supporters making a great deal of noise encouraging their team throughout, the visitors were smart in their white & blue blazers if not quite as eye straining as the host’s amber & maroon versions. Officially we can now say that ‘Shouty’ corner has been shaded by ‘Stripey’ corner!
Bishop’s Stortford head coach Steve Pope commented “Congratulations to Ampthill, all credit to them, they did not do anything that we didn’t expect but what they did they did very well. The disallowed try mid way through the second half was a turning point but we had time to respond but by the time we did it was too late. I’d like to thank Andy, the rest of the coaching team and the players, everyone has worked very hard this season, they are a young squad and will only get better from this experience. The club is in a good place. Good luck to Ampthill in National 1 next season.”
Ampthill head coach Paul Turner commented “This was a great win for the club and the town, especially after last year’s disappointment. Stortford came with a game plan to get us to play the type of game they wanted, for a time in the second half I was concerned they’d succeeded but our defence was outstanding. We were a bit subdued behind the scrum but I’m proud of the effort and the success this season, the hard work for next year starts now.”
Ampthill
Tries Burke M (20), Ma’asi (28), Sproston (34)
Conversions Tarrant (21, 29)
Penalties Against 17
Lineouts Won 15
Lineouts Lost 0
Scrums Won 3
Scrums Lost 2
Sin Bin 2
Bishop’s Stortford
Tries Cullen (9), Rea (75)
Penalties Against 7
Lineouts Won 13
Lineouts Lost 5
Scrums Won 8
Scrums Lost 0
Sin Bin 0
Half Time Ampthill 19 Broadstreet 5
Man of the Match Karim Lynch, Ampthill
Referee Marcus Caton
Attendance 1,213
