Ampthill 12 Amersham & Chiltern 24
28th September 2008by Ian Hopkinson
The listing was posted by Amersham & Chiltern RFC - u16s: Match Reports
Chiltern started their defence of their Bucks League title with an away fixture against their main rivals from last season. Tom Carroll, Conor Jordan and Sean Chamunorwa were making their First XV debuts and with Henry Griffin starting on the bench for the first time and Ed Wainwright returning from injury the squad had a solid feel to it despite the absence of one or two regulars.
Ampthill were again expected to provide a stern test and so it proved but it was Chiltern who were the first to exert pressure on the Ampthill line through the forwards, with Ben Symington prominent as usual. Tom Carroll was also impressive from the start and it was he who fed Luke Martin for the first score, converted by Alex Miller.
Chiltern were soon on the attack again as a kick from Tom Jervis and a strong chase set up good field position but the ball was lost at the ruck and when Ampthill’s backs cut loose they were able to beat the covering defence for a converted try to bring the scores level at 7-7.
Chiltern’s forwards were starting to get the upper hand and from a set scrum the ball was moved quickly along the back line to Joe Stevens who scored in the corner. Chiltern went further ahead just before half time when Tom Watts took a scrum against the head and after some good forward play Harry Andrews was on hand to power his way over. Alex Miller was again successful with the kick to make the score 17-7 in Chiltern’s favour at the break.
Chiltern went further ahead in the second half when Joe Stevens collected a 22 drop out and ran the ball back strongly at the Ampthill defence. Although Joe was stopped before the line the support from the forwards was there to secure the ball and from the ruck Jack Benson was able to score the bonus point try.
Ampthill were not done and lineout drive saw them cross the line for an unconverted try just before the final whistle to make the final score 24-12.
A hard fought victory against a strong and resilient Ampthill outfit - congratulations to: Harry Andrews, Tom Watts, Ben Symington, Tom Carroll, Alex Michaels, Andy Slater, Luke Martin, Jack Benson, Sam Privett, Alex Miller, Joe Stevens, Tom Jervis, Ross Wilson, Conor Jordan, Sean Chamunorwa and subs Marcus Dayal, Chris Royals, Jack Freeman, Ed Wainwright, James Hackney, Lewis Evans and Henry Griffin.