Ampthill came back from a 14 point deficit at half time to defeat the league leaders Ealing Trailfinders, on the Olney Field.
After a cagey start to the game, Ealing scored the opening try of the game in the 11th minute. Playing on penalty advantage, winger Nathan Earle burst through a gaping hole in the Ampthill defence, and passed on his inside to scrum-half Lloyd Williams, who strolled across the line to give the visitors a 7-0 lead, following a Billy Twelvetrees conversion.
Despite being on the back foot, Ampthill levelled the match on the 28th minute. After building the phases, Brandon Jackson brilliantly finished in the corner, following a break by Iwan Shenton, with Pete White delivering the decisive pass.
The league leaders responded quickly, reopening a 7 point lead just 5 minutes later, following a superb break from Dan O’Brien inside his own half, who then offloaded to captain Rayn Smid, who burst through a last ditch tackle to score with ease.
Despite a yellow card to O’Brien in the 37th minute for taking out Tom Bacon in the air, Ealing scored with the final play of the opening 40. Following a well sustained attack, full back Cian Kelleher smartly grubbered through and collected his own kick to dive over the whitewash.
At the start of the second half, the scrums became uncontested with both of Ealing’s hookers replaced due to concussion, and this seemed to spark the Ampthill turnaround.
Just 8 minutes into the second half, Ampthill reduced the arrears to 7 points, with their 2nd try of the afternoon. The ball was spread out to winger Tobias Elliott, who managed to sidestep the Ealing defender, before outmuscling the Trailfinders recovery defence to ground the ball in the corner.
The hosts continued to apply the pressure, and scored another try just before the hour mark. Iwan Shenton combined magnificently with his second row partner Ollie Stonham, with latter strolling across the whitewash, but Ealing still held a 21-19 lead, following a missed conversion from Josh Barton.
The visitors began to become desperate to build some attacking momentum, and in doing so gave Ampthill the lead for the first time in the match, in the 63rd minute. With possession deep inside the Mob’s 22, the Trailfinders looked in prime position to strike, but a loopy pass was intercepted by Tobias Elliott, who ran almost the whole length of the pitch to help secure the try bonus point. A simple conversion by Josh Barton extended the lead to 26-21 with just under 15 minutes left.
The Mob defended with huge resolve to stop an Ealing fightback in the latter stages, and Barton slotted a penalty with just 3 minutes remaining, significantly putting Ealing more than a converted try behind the hosts, and the hosts were able to see the game out.
Speaking after his side’s victory, Ampthill Head Coach Paul Turner said, “Ealing are a quality team. They kept forcing us into errors in the first half and deserved to go in 21-7 up.
We spoke to the players at half time and said our discipline had to improve and we had to be clinical with any opportunity presented. To their credit the players have done that. I’m very proud of our performance its definitely up there with the best in our clubs history. To win the second half 22-0 up the slope says a lot for the players efforts.
The result gives us confidence going into our next block of games and I’m sure Ealing will show their quality and still win the league.”
Ampthill Points Scorers
Tries: Jackson 28, Elliot 48, 63, Stonham 57
Conversions: Barton 29, 49, 64
Pens: Barton 77
Player of the Match: Tobias Elliott
Attendance: 1015
A full gallery of pictures from club photographer Zach Levens is available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/s5sy9FX3QjYC18119
The 1st XV next home game is against Doncaster Knights on Sat 20th April, 3pm kick-off. Match Tickets and Bookings for the Ladies Bottomless Brunch are available now at https://tinyurl.com/ARUFC2023-24
Before then we play Caldy away on Sat 6th April and Bedford Blues on Sat 13th.
