Nottingham backed up their fantastic win at Doncaster last week as they ran in six tries against Ampthill to record their 50th victory at The Bay. In reality they could have won by a far greater margin were it not for a number of handling errors in the first half.
Ampthill started brightly but without really threatening until David Williams swung a leg at a loose ball but missed it after Nottingham had stolen possession at a lineout on halfway. That created an opening for the Ampthill scrum-half Declan Murphy and he duly put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute. Evan Mitchell added the extras.
The remainder of the half pretty much belonged to The Archers, although they were their own worst enemy on a number of occasions, as they pressured the Ampthill line but gave up possession too cheaply too often.
It was third time lucky, after a couple of promising attacks had fizzled out through error or ill-discipline, as Kegan Christian-Goss found space on the left and he released Williams who cut in to dot down. Unfortunately Matthew Arden couldn’t convert.
Nottingham were immediately back on the offensive but the errors crept back in as a forward pass, a penalty in the ruck and, after half an hour, following driving runs from Christian-Goss, Sam Mercer and Archie van der Flier, a penalty for a double movement inches from the opponents try line thwarted the home side.
The Archers came again though, and on 35 minutes they managed to successfully get the ball through the hands to Charlie Myall, wide left, to dive over to put his team ahead with his first try for the club. Matthew Arden atoned for his earlier miss to increase Nottingham’s advantage to five points.
Ampthill tried to finish the half as they started it as they had plenty of possession in Nottingham territory but, again, didn’t particularly make inroads into the 22. The Archers had the chance for one final attack as a cross-field kick-pass from Arden released Mercer on the right. As he was stopped just short of the line he offloaded to James Cherry but another handling error ended the half, with the score remaining Nottingham 12-7 Ampthill.
Nottingham were much better at turning their pressure into points in the second period. Within five minutes of the restart Kody Vereti punched a few holes in the Ampthill defensive lines to set up Tom Manz to pile over and Arden added the extras.
Then there were three tries in a ten minute spell where The Archers took the game away from Ampthill. First, playing with penalty advantage from a scrum 10 metres out, Arden took his chances with a grubber to the corner that Harry Graham was the first to get to and the try bonus point was secured.
Then replacement scrum-half Josh Goodwin took a quick tap from a penalty just outside the Ampthill 22. As he was prevented from reaching the line he offloaded to Arden who claimed his first try for Nottingham. Finally, Williams notched a glorious solo effort as he skipped past numerous burgundy and gold shirts to score under the posts.
Ampthill replacement Josh Barton converted his own effort with 10 minutes remaining as a consolation for the visitors.
David Williams on assuming the role of captain: “It’s different but there’s a supportive leadership group that manage different parts of the game. That allows me to play my game but also work on some of my leadership.”
On filling in at full-back: “Ryan Olowofela was unfortunately ill so I got the call earlier to let me know I was at 15. It’s not something I’ve really played at all, strangely, after 130 games or so at Nottingham but I really enjoyed it. It’s a lot more running, I found out, but also being able to get my hands on the ball and score a couple of tries – it might be a new position for me!”
On his second try: “I wasn’t too sure about the dive because I slid quite a way! Levi Roper gave a brilliant ball, I hit a line and the defence parted so it was quite a nice way to cap off the game for me.”