Ampthill suffered an agonising last-minute defeat at The Lady Bay as their winning run came to an end.
The Mob went into the game five from five in block four of Elior Champ Rugby and only one place and two points behind Nottingham in the league table. A full bloodied first half demonstrated the quality of both teams attack and defence as they exchanged four tries but tellingly just one successful conversion separated them at the break.
Ampthill opened the scoring on 8 minutes, Jones feeding Mullarkey who broke the line to score. Nottingham equalised minutes later before another Jones assist put Va’enuku through a gap to dive over. Keylock duly added the extras. Nottingham scored a try that will frustrate the Ampthill defence coaches – a quick line out after a 50:22 caught the Mob napping and the number eight scored in the corner. A two-point lead to Ampthill at the break.
Nottingham took the lead for the first time in the game ten minutes into the second half. A huge defensive set from the Mob but a penalty conceded 5m out from which the Archers drove over.
A third scrum penalty in as many minutes resulted in a yellow card for the Nottingham tighthead and from the next scrum Ampthill took advantage. Morgan went to the blindside off the back of the scrum and popped the ball to Mapapalangi who crashed over. Finn Keylocks second conversion restored the lead. 17-19 with 15 minutes to play.
Ampthill extended their lead with only four minutes to play. Harrison Courtney returned to the field for the injured Barrington and immediately crashed over in the corner. Keylocks kick hit the post but the Mob lead 17 – 24 with minutes on the clock.
A penalty and yellow card for captain Fraser Strachan gave Nottingham a chance to level the game. With the penalty kicked to within 10m, their line out hit the first man and he stepped over before Gwyn Parks levelled the scores off the tee.
And with the clock in the red, Nottingham opted for the posts from another Ampthill penalty and took the win.
Following the game, Head Coach Dave Ward said “credit to Nottingham, they carved out a chance at the end and took it. We were a little bit naïve in the second half in areas of the field to play in but what a fantastic game of rugby. I can’t fault the players energy, enthusiasm and effort but we ran into a good team today and they took the spoils”
The 1st XV play their final game of the season next Saturday, 9th May when Cambridge Rugby visit The Olney Field. Tickets and hospitality are available at ampthillrufc.com
Starting XV
1Harrison Courtney 2. Seb Smith 3. Jevaughn Warren 4. Ollie Mullarkey 5. Justin Mataele
6. Barney Merrett 7. Charles Rylands (vc) 8. Tino Mapapalangi 9. Efan Jones 10. Luke Davidson
11. Oscar Wilson 12. Fraser Strachan (c) 13. Sione Vaenuku 14. Joe Heslop 15. Finn Keylock
Replacements:
16 James Isaacs 17. Rich Barrington 18. James Johnston 19. Jake Parkinson 20. Harrison Dakin
21. Rory Morgan 22. Josh Barton 23. Sam Kildunne
Point Scorers:
Tries: Mullarkey (8), Va’enuku (16) Mapapalangi (64) Courtney (76)
Conv: Keylock (17, 65)
Pens: –
