Ampthill run amok at Hull Ionians

The visitors made a number of changes for the match as, up front, lock Nick Isiekwe and flanker Ben Earl returned from B&I duty with Saracens while the bench included hooker James Fish similarly back from Saints duty, debutant scrum half Alex Mitchell from Saints and the return of backs cover Elliot Reeder.

Amps began well with fly half Joe Tarrant running the kick off back into Ionians territory resulting in a lineout inside the home 22.

A trademark catch and drive saw prop Matt Collins touch down with Tarrant adding the extras in the first minute.

More pressure from the visitors resulted in Tarrant striking a penalty goal on 10 minutes with the hosts responding almost immediately with a penalty goal of their own through full back Lee Millar.

On 36 minutes Hull wing Aquille Smith touched down with Millar adding the extras to narrow the points gap to three.

However, an instant response saw visiting prop Brett Sturgess score his second try of the season before Millar slotted over another penalty in time added on to leave the score 18-13 to Amps at oranges.

The second half was more one sided with A’s scoring five tries.

Winger Sam Baker got the visitors underway just two minutes in, while Maama Molitika quickly followed him over the line.

Full back Stef Jones touched down just before the hour mark, while centre Sam Hanks was also over with two minutes to go.

Replacement back Elliot Reeder added the gloss to proceedings in the final moments, with Tarrant kicking three conversions.

The result saw Ampthill sitting fifth in the table and they host basement side Blaydon at Dillingham Park this weekend, kick-off at 2.15pm.