Ampthill were narrowly edged out by local rivals Bedford Blues in a 11 try thriller on a beautiful sunny afternoon in front of over 2000 spectators at The Olney Field, with The Blues holding on at the death to deny The Mob a stirring second half comeback victory.
Despite defending in their own half in the opening stages, Ampthill scored the first try of the match just three minutes into the contest. Josh Barton chased a kick all the way to the Bedford 22, and after completing the turnover, the ball was spread to the right hand side, and eventually Sione Va’enuku evaded a last ditch tackle to score with ease.
The visitors responded superbly to the early setback, scoring two tries within the next 15 minutes to claim a 5-12 lead. Shay Kerry peeled off the back of a rolling maul from close range and crashed his way across the whitewash in the 11th minute. Following a yellow card to Jack Bracken for a high tackle in the 14th minute, Bedford punished Ampthill one minute later, with Fred Tuilagi this time diving across the try line after another dominant rolling maul.
Bedford secured the try bonus point before the half hour mark, extending their advantage to 15 points despite Will Maisey only slotting one conversion out of his four attempts. An overthrown lineout from The Mob gave Bedford an attacking platform, and after shifting the ball to the left hand side, Dean Adamson galloped away and dotted down in the corner in the 24th minute. More sloppy play from Ampthill in the 27th minute allowed Louis James to run into a huge gap in the defensive line, and a simple pass to replacement Matt Worley sent him into the clear.
The Blues scored their fifth try of the afternoon three minutes before the break to give themselves a big 7-29 half time lead. After another superb line break from inside his own half by Louis James, he found Matt Worley once again, who had the straightforward task of grounding the ball with no Ampthill player anywhere near him.
The half time break was the reset that Ampthill needed, and they scored two tries in the opening 15 minutes of the half to reduce the arrears to 8 points. After piling on the pressure near the Bedford line, fast hands caught the visitors defensive off guard, and allowed Josh Barton to stroil across the try line unopposed in the 46th minute. Six minutes later, Callum Norrie his way across the try line from close range, and the comeback was most certainly a possibility.
The momentum had certainly swung towards The Mob, and a stunning team try in the 66th minute left Bedford with a slender 28-29 advantage. After regaining possession near halfway, Jack Bracken made a superb line break, offloaded inside to Sione Va’enuku, and after carrying the ball to near Bedford’s 22, a well-timed offload allowed Declan Murphy to dot down underneath the sticks.
Just three minutes later, Bedford re-established their 8 point lead, with Fred Tuilagi scoring his second try of the afternoon after some severe pressure from The Blues near the try line. The Mob scored the last try of the match with four minutes remaining in the match, with a superb Luke Davidson cross-field kick finding replacement Mason Cullen, and despite Tuilagi receiving a yellow card after the try for a high tackle in the build-up, Bedford held on to secure a 33-36 win.
Speaking after his side’s narrow derby day defeat, Ampthill head coach Paul Turner said, “We started well, but we couldn‘t keep hold of the ball after that and we quickly went from being 7-0 up to 7-22 down. We had some choice words at half time and I told the boys to play for a little bit of pride in the second half, and we certainly did. It’s obviously disappointing to lose but to come from behind like we did was a testament to the players, they upped the ante in the second half and on another day we could’ve won”.
Ampthill Points Scorers
Tries: Va’enuku 3, Barton 46, 76, Norrie 52, Murphy 66,
Conversions: Barton 4, 47, 53, 67
Attendance: 2104
Carlsberg Britvic and 1664 Biere Man of the Match: Luke Davidson
