Hartpury end away-day blues with first victory against ill-disciplined Ampthill
By Luke Jarmyn & James Logan, at Dillingham Park
HARTPURY RFC endured torrential conditions and a scrappy ill-disciplined affair in Bedfordshire to end their away-day woes and seal a crucial win on the road.
Playmaker Harry Bazalgette scored 11 points from the tee, while scrum-half Oscar Lennon, co-captain Jack Davies, openside flanker Ellis Hart and fullback Alex Morgan all got on the scoresheet in an impressive performance as Ampthill were undone by their poor discipline.
Gloomy grey skies, heavy rain and a chilly wind ensured a temperature of 9°C gripped Ampthill & District’s Olney Field ground within Dillingham Park as the home-side’s fly-half Louis Grimoldby kicked off.
A quick start saw both sides looking to take control of the ball in the torrential conditions, but numerous handling errors and sustained periods of stoppages meant neither team could get on top.
Hartpury have struggled on previous trips to the Olney Field, but with fly-half Harry Bazalgette starting to make inroads, they begun to get the better of “The Mob”.
The black away shirts were on The Mob’s try line for several minutes, with the home-side giving away several penalties and lock Totoa Auvaa sin-binned for illegally bringing down a driving maul.
Outside-centre Robbie Smith was held up on the whitewash again as the game went over the quarter-hour mark, but two minutes later and a fantastic passage of play, with Smith spinning in possession led to Lennon sniping over in the corner to open the scoring.
But ‘pury’s lead didn’t last long; a mistake at the kick-off, dropping the ball forward, offered the hosts a scrum just inside the visitors 22-metre area.
Blindside flanker Tino Mapapalangi broke through Hartpury’s defence and offloaded to a charging loosehead Harrison Courtney, with the imposing prop-forward diving over underneath the posts to score for the home side, Grimoldby’s conversion levelling the contest on the 22nd minute.
Despite a 50-22 from Bazalgette’s boot on the half-hour mark, a stolen line-out ended the chance of ‘pury retaking the lead before The Mob put the Gloucestershire side in their own corner.
Things got worse; Hartpury’s replacement No.8 Freddie Stevens was yellow carded not long after coming on the park during the 34th minute for penalties at the maul.
Then the orange-shirted home-side spread the ball to the left off the back of a scrum, and a sharp Efan Jones pass led to fullback Josh Barton sliding over the try line to give the Bedfordshire side the lead, with Grimoldby converting.
The hosts looked to close out the first-half, but 14-man Hartpury’s relentlessly attacked with several line-outs as The Mob gave away several penalties. Ampthill lock Olamide Sodeke was sent to the bin for a technical error before his opposite number Davies smashed over from close range, Bazalgette converting.
If things weren’t lively enough with the yellow card, the hosts would be reduced to 13 men straight after the leveller, as their second lock Tatoa Auvaa received a second card of the afternoon – a straight red - following a physical lash out at the try-scorer Davies.
The second-half started in similar fashion, a disjointed opening with numerous handling errors slowing down the game before 14-man Hartpury used their man advantage to score a third try and retake the lead.
A Bazalgette grubber kick through Ampthill’s line was picked up by Hart as he broke through the host's defence as the 13-man home side’s line leaked and were unable to cover, making it 14-21.
The home crowd seemed to get a little frustrated with some of referee Andy Wigley’s decisions after efforts by their side to come back into the game were thwarted by Hartpury’s defence and clever kick by Ollie Holliday.
Their feelings were made worse just after the hour-mark when, after yet another misjudgement in the backfield, a Bazalgette grubber got the benefit of the slippery conditions before fullback Alex Morgan gathered to go over the try-line for the bonus-point score.
Ampthill responded with several replacements, and it proved effective after Hartpury back-rower Jarrard Hayler earned the fifth and final card of the fractious game – a yellow - for another infringement at the breakdown on the 67th minute.
With the sun making a blindingly brief appearance, Ampthill went for the tap and go with Tino Mapapalangi forcing his way over the line, and replacement pivot Finn Keylock’s conversion made it a one-score game, 21-28.
However, Mr Reliable - Harry Bazalgette - held his nerve after the forwards pinned the home-side deep in their own territory and forced them to cough up a penalty for offside. The fly-half nudged a perfect kick through the sticks to extend the lead to 10 points.
Head coach Mark Cornwell made some final changes, and despite Bazalgette having another attempt to extend the lead from the half-way line drop just short due to the prevailing wind on the 76th minute, Hartpury picked up a precious 31-21 bonus-point win away from home.
Stats:
|
Ampthill RUFC |
|
Hartpury RFC |
|
16 |
Penalties conceded |
13 |
|
16 |
Line-outs won |
18 |
|
6 |
Line-outs lost |
4 |
|
5 |
Scrums won |
6 |
|
2 |
Scrums lost |
1 |
|
2 |
Yellow cards |
2 |
|
1 |
Red cards |
0 |
Teams:
Ampthill RUFC: Josh Barton, Sam Kildunne, Oscar Wilson (Fraser Strachen 70’), Sione Va’enuku, Seva Kava (Justin Mataele 41’), Louis Grimoldby (Finn Keylock 63’), Efan Jones (Rory Morgan 63’); Harrison Courtney (Jevaughn Warren 63’), Seb Smith (Harrison Dakin 76’), James Johnston (Callum Norrie 40’), Tatoa Auvaa, Olamide Sodeke, Tino Mapapalangi, Charles Rylands © (Ollie Mullarkey 73’), Charlie West
Tries: Courtney 21’, Barton 35’, Mapapalangi 68’
Conversions: Grimoldby 22’, 36’, Keylock 69’
Sin-bins: Totoa Auvaa 13’, Olamide Sodeke 40’
Sent-off: Totoa Auvaa 40’+1’
Hartpury RFC: Alex Morgan, Brad Denty (Max Knight 72’), Robbie Smith, Ollie Allsopp (Dan Owen 72’), Ollie Holiday, Harry Bazalgette, Oscar Lennon (Cai Gealy 65’); Louie Trevett (Ethan Hunt 60’), Will Crane (cc) (Harrison Bellemy 60’), Jon Benz-Salomon (Alex Gibson 60’), Dale Lemon, Jack Davies (cc), Jarrard Hayler, Ellis Hart, Tom Worts (Freddie Stevens 12’)
Replacements not used: Samuel Allford
Tries: Lennon 17’, Davies 40’, Hart 43’, Morgan 62’
Conversions: Bazalgette 18’, 40’+1’, 44’, 63’)
Penalties: Bazalgette 71’
Sin-bins: Freddie Stevens 34’, Jarrard Hayler 67’
Referee: Andy Wigley (RFU)
Attendance: 672
Half-time score: 14 - 14
Star players: Tino Mapapalangi (Ampthill) / Harry Bazalgette (Hartpury)
Reaction:
Cornwell ‘delighted’ as Hartpury end three away game losing run
By James Logan & Luke Jarmyn, at Dillingham Park
HARTPURY head coach Mark Cornwell expressed his “delight” after seeing his Gloucestershire-based side hold firm in gruelling conditions to beat Ampthill 31-21.
The win is the side’s first away from home since their opening day victory against Cornish Pirates in Penzance and ends what was becoming a concerning run of three defeats on the road.
Cornwell said: “I’ve come here many times over the years and it’s not an easy place to come.
“They make it very awkward at times especially when they get the players in that they need like they did today.
“But I’m glad we got over the line in the end and it was a tough battle out there at times.”
Hartpury had to put up with very difficult conditions, enduring plenty of wind and rain through the warm up and the match while the game itself was a scrappy penalty-heavy affair.
Cornwell felt his side responded well after their lacklustre performance on the road against Richmond in similar conditions fifteen days prior.
He said: “It’s not easy, and we found it difficult at Richmond two weeks ago on the Friday night where it was very, very similar conditions.
“You can still play rugby but some players seem to go within themselves, tend not to play, or kick too much and the big thing is you’ve just got to find that right balance.
“The pitch was wet, but it seemed to dry up quite quickly as the players ran around on it and as you saw, we scored some good tries.”
Ampthill ended the game with 14-men following a red card to their lock Totoa Auvaa, but Cornwell believes his side reacted the correct way to the challenge.
He said: “When you're against 13 men for the next 10 minutes, you’ve got to up the tempo. We've got to keep the ball, we've got to play, and we've got to move the ball around and make them tackle.
“Hopefully they will tire due to being at 13 men, and they did.
“There was a couple of instances in the first-half where I saw a couple of their forwards struggling as they walked in at halftime, and I thought, that might be an area for us to go after and target.
“It isn't always about scoring from a yard out or driving line out.”
Dale Lemon made his 100th appearance for the club and the head coach was full of praise for the lock.
He said: “I just said to the boys then, if a coach can have 15 Dale Lemons in their side, then you'd be a happy coach, because he never asks you as a player to do something he's not prepared to do himself.
“He leads by example; he's got an engine on him and he's just a great bloke to have around and let's see if he can get 200 caps.”
Openside-flanker Ellis Hart put on a try-scoring show and was full of praise for his team-mate’s performance.
He said: “It’s just good to get on the end of what the boys put together and score the try, so again, it’s just a team effort.
“We’re happy to get over the line and on a special day for Dale.”
Hart was also full of praise for Lemon with the flanker believing he’s one of a kind.
He said: “Monster! He’s a freak of an athlete, great bloke, and I'm sure he'd be loving it tonight.”
The try scorer was delighted about the result and feels like it is a great start to kicking things off for the rest of the season.
He said: “It’s massive, coming away to get five points is huge.
“We know how good we are at home, so now it's just translating it for away games.
“So, as you can imagine, five points on the road, its happy days!”
Meanwhile Ampthill’s captain Charles Rylands gave his perspective, and said: “I felt like a classic game of two halves, we fronted up in the first-half but it’s tough to win any game when you have 14 men for so long.
“Some of the errors we made in the second-half ensured that we made it a difficult afternoon for ourselves.”
