Nottingham Rugby v Ampthill
1 May 2026 | The Bay | Elior Champ Rugby
The rugby on display wasn’t always pretty but there was no shortage of entertainment on offer as Nottingham staged a stunning comeback in the closing stages of a see-saw encounter to beat Ampthill 27-24 courtesy of a Gwyn Parks penalty with the very last kick of the game.
Double try scorer James Cherry hailed the efforts of his place kicker as well as the team in general: “We turned it around in the last ten minutes. Parksy having the absolute stones at the end to kick that through was unreal. Application for 80 minutes is something we’ve spoken about all week, we did that and got the result.”
The opening exchanges were punctuated by a number of penalties for both teams until Ollie Mullarkey bulldozed over for the visitors on eight minutes. Luke Davidson couldn’t convert.
The Archers struck back almost immediately, however, as Jack Dickinson went over off the back of a maul from a five metre lineout. Parks’s conversion hit the post, leaving the scores level.
But it took just over five minutes for the Mob to get back in front as Sione Va’enuku forced his way over this time. Finn Keylock took over kicking duties to extend the lead.
Approaching the half hour mark Nottingham turned defence into attack thanks to an opportunistic 50:22 from David Williams. James Cherry was alert to the fact that the ball hadn’t been called dead as its bounce evaded the ball girl. His quick throw was returned to him by Dickinson and he flew in unopposed.
Cherry explained: “I was shouting at Dicko to run down there with me, he did and that created a little two v one. All credit to the ball girl for leaving it!”
Kicking had been the undoing of the Archers in the return fixture in early January and fears were growing that it would be the same this time as Parks couldn’t add the extras from out wide, leaving the score at Nottingham 10-12 Ampthill at the half.
The second period began rather scrappily with a number of handling errors for both sides. Nottingham started to build up a head of steam, with lots of effort expended on the front lines in sight of the goal line, until Osian Thomas burrowed over by the right hand post on 50 minutes to put the Archers ahead for the first time. Parks extended the advantage from the easier angle.
That was a cue for Ampthill to ramp up the pressure and the next quarter of an hour was played almost exclusively in the hosts’ half. Dan Richardson giving away a penalty at the scrum was the straw that broke the camel’s back and, with him in the sin bin, Tino Mapapalangi capitalised. Keylock’s conversion put his side back in front.
Things then got even worse for Nottingham as Sam Green saw yellow for a no arms tackle, reducing the side to 13, and Harrison Courtney plundered another try for the visitors. But Keylock hit the post this time leaving the lead at seven and giving the Archers a sniff of hope.
That led to the dramatic finale that became a tale of three penalties. Firstly for Nottingham, who kicked to the corner. Dickinson and Cherry had another set piece trick up their sleeves, with the latter sneaking to the front of the lineout to take the short throw from the former and dash in to secure a try bonus point. Parks levelled the scores.
Then, in the final minute Ampthill won a penalty just inside their opponent’s half. They opted for a kick at goal but Keylock was off target. Back came Nottingham and, when Jack Stapley was high tackled, there was much debate about which option to choose. But, with the clock in the red, the tee was called for and Parks hit it straight down the middle to break Ampthill’s hearts.
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