Irish Amateurs put to the sword by unpredictable Amps side
Ampthill 52 London Irish Amateurs 12
A CURATE’S egg of a performance from Ampthill saw them romp to a 52-12 win over London Irish Amateurs at a sticky Dillingham Park in National League Three London & SE on Saturday.
Amps’ squad saw just two changes on the bench and they began well with their pack setting their stall out from the off.
And they combined with the backs on three minutes as left wing Kyle Palm made the extra man on the right for right wing Paul Boston to finish an unconverted try.
Three minutes later, fly-half Christopher Anderson added a penalty to put Amps in control.
The forwards turned the screw and the visitors’ pack had no answer for Amps’ power at the set-piece, culminating in a penalty try on 15 minutes, converted by Anderson.
Irish responded by raising their game which, combined with A’s over-elaboration and lack of precision, saw them hold Amps to until the half-hour mark.
Relentless pressure in the midfield resulted in full-back Daniel Lavery selling a dummy and touching down under the posts, with Anderson adding the extras.
From the restart, scrum-half Thomas Warfield’s box kick clearance from inside his 22 was chased and caught cleanly by centre Jonathan Raven who broke down the right and his overhead pass put supporting centre partner Paul Davies in to touch down an unconverted try.
Irish camped in the home side’s 22 for the last five minutes, but Amps’ defence held firm as they led 27-0 at oranges.
Good defence kept Amps’ initial drive out at the start of the second half, but hooker Richard Emms was eventually driven over from 18 metres out for an unconverted try.
Amps’ forwards moved the ball 60 metres before winger Palm held off the close attentions of two defenders to force his way over for an unconverted try five minutes in.
Scrum-half Warfield capped an influential display by attacking from a breakdown on Irish’s 22 to score a fine solo unconverted try five minutes later. Irish responded with their best period of the match, culminating in a 58th-minute try by their hooker, converted by their fly-half, following sustained pressure on the Ampthill goal-line.
Amps responded with loosehead prop Joseph Sproston finishing off more good work by the pack, before a triple substitution on 65 minutes saw Amps’ tempo drop.
The London side’s left winger bagged an unconverted try with five minutes to go, but the home side had the final word through Boston’s second try, which Anderson failed to convert. This week Amps travel to Westcliff.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
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