It was a frustrating afternoon for the Archers in sunny and cold Bedfordshire as, despite sharing 10 tries with Ampthill, it was the hosts’ superior kicking game that meant Nottingham were denied even a losing bonus point in a 36-27 defeat.
Charlie West, making his first start for Nottingham on only his second appearance, was only on target once from his five attempts, albeit from more difficult angles than his opposite number, Finn Keylock, who notched five from six. West, a Nottingham Trent University student, was a late call up to the starting 15 after regular fly half Gwyn Parks failed a head injury assessment on the day before the game.
It could have been a different story for the Archers had they not turned the ball over so easily with a number of missed passes going straight to touch and two overthrown lineouts five metres from their opponent’s line.
Number 8 James Cherry described whether the near-freezing conditions had an impact on Nottingham’s ball-playing ability: “It’s cold but that’s not an excuse. The weather plays a factor in the game but ultimately it’s down to us, the decisions we make and the actions we take. We’ve got to be better as a group, especially in the handling area, knowing when to pass and when not to.”
Having been under pressure in the opening quarter of an hour it was Nottingham who scored first, however, as hands in the ruck from Ampthill gave the visitors good field position and a bulldozing run from Cherry from the following lineout got his side off the mark. West’s conversion attempt slid wide left.
The Mob struck back five minutes later when scrum half Efan Jones sniped over after Nottingham weren’t strong enough in the tackle. Keylock put Ampthill into the lead from the tee.
The Archers maul had been effective all half and, with the try line in their sights, it could only be stopped by the host’s tighthead, Callum Norrie, pulling it to the ground. Appeals for a penalty try were not entertained by referee Charlie Gayther, but the prop was sent to the sin bin. Michael Green piled over from the restart to put the visitors back ahead with the conversion missed once again.
Craig Hammond’s men weren’t able to turn the man advantage to any greater benefit, however, and, on the stroke of half time Jones went over between the posts again for Ampthill, with Keylock making the score Ampthill 14-10 Nottingham at the break.
Nottingham were under pressure for practically the entire third quarter of the match, just about keeping the home side out on a number of occasions until, on 57 minutes, Sam Kildunne broke free on the left wing and, despite crossing the try line, he unselfishly chose to pass it inside to Jones to complete his hat-trick. Keylock converted once more.
Ollie Mullarkey added the bonus point try for Ampthill soon after as he bounced a couple of tackles to score in the left corner. Keylock’s solitary miss came from the touchline.
It wasn’t until the 65th minute that Nottm had any real possession in enemy territory, culminating in the Archers’ maul coming to the fore again with Jack Dickinson the beneficiary. West got his only points on the board with the conversion.
That small amount of joy for the visitors was short-lived, however, as Keylock extended Ampthill’s lead to 12 points with a penalty.
The game really opened up from that point on with replacement prop Ale Loman and wing Alex Garrett adding some energy for Nottingham, the latter claiming the try bonus point on debut with a run down the right wing.
But ultimately the losing bonus point was taken out of reach for Nottingham when, with five minutes remaining, Sione Va’unuku was set free to score Ampthill’s fifth try.
Loman did his best to salvage something for the Archers, breaking the defensive line on halfway and only just being hauled down 40 metres later. Nottingham won a penalty at the breakdown that they chose to tap, setting up Cherry for his second try but, with the last kick of the game, West’s conversion missed, meaning the deficit remained at nine points.
Cherry reflected the team’s disappointment at the final whistle: “Any game we go into we look to get four or five points but massive credit to Ampthill, they did a really good job in tricky conditions. They exploited our mistakes and we’ve got to be better as a group. We’ll go away and review that then, after a bit of time off, try and right some wrongs when we play London Scottish at home in three weeks’ time.”