Hartpury’s playoff hopes hampered in Friday night defeat
By Luke Jarmyn & Rhys Anderson, at 4ED Stadium
HARTPURY RFC continued their torrid run of form with another defeat, this time at the hands of relegation-threatened Ampthill, further damaging their playoff hopes.
Ampthill ended their six-game losing streak with a tight victory over Hartpury, scoring five tries to the university side’s four on Friday evening.
Before kick-off, there was a positive feeling around the ground in anticipation of co-captain Jack Davies making his 100th appearance for Hartpury, missing only one game in his career at the Gloucestershire outfit.
On a cold, clear evening under the lights at the 4ED Stadium, it was a nervy start from both teams, with both sides trying to gain an advantage in the kicking game.
It was Hartpury who struck first with a lovely move, started off by wing Ollie Holliday on the near touchline, breaking tackles for fun, before number eight Tom Wortz gained crucial metres towards the tryline, before Brad Denty finally finished off the move in the far-right corner.
It took mere minutes before the visitors levelled the game after they broke down the left wing through Totoa Auvaa, who offloaded well to Oscar Wilson to dot down in the left corner.
Both tries in the first ten minutes had their conversions missed, in what was a poor half for off-the-tee kicking, with only two of the six first-half tries being slotted through the posts.
Ampthill took the lead midway through the first half as outside centre Sione Va’Enuku powered over the Hartpury line following a lineout on the 22. Luke Davidson converted.
The away side extended their advantage to 12 points through a lineout drive dotted down by hooker Seb Smith.
The momentum shifted back towards Hartpury in the final 10 minutes of the first half, and the lead was closed back down to five after flanker Harry Short was the ball carrier for a lineout drive which collapsed over the line.
The hosts drew level just five minutes later through another lineout drive, a rinse and repeat of their previous score, but with hooker Will Crane getting his name on the scoresheet.
With the last play of the first half, it was the visitors who struck, with Wilson scoring his brace after beating three defenders before going over.
The hosts came out of the blocks quickly to start the second period, with scrum half Sam Allford going over under the posts thanks to Robbie Smith, who danced through the defensive line before finding his half back. Bazalgette converted to give Hartpury the lead for the first time since the opening 10 minutes of the game.
Worts was forced off the field of play five minutes into the second half after head-on-head contact split his head open, but it wasn’t seen by the referee, and the back row man had to go off for stitches and an HIA before coming back on ten minutes later.
Ampthill retook the lead on the hour mark as Va’Enuku scored his second of the game after a creative chip got the centre in behind the Hartpury defence.
The game fell flat for the next quarter-of-an-hour, with Hartpury pinned in their own half, unable to escape, partly due to the suffocation by Ampthill, but partly due to their own unforced errors.
Bazalgette gave the home side a chance by scoring a 43-metre penalty kick to close the deficit to five points, but a knock-on ended any chance Hartpury had after several phases inside their own half.
Stats:
|
Hartpury RFC |
Ampthill RUFC |
|
|
11 |
Penalties conceded |
10 |
|
9 |
Line-outs won |
10 |
|
4 |
Line-outs lost |
4 |
|
5 |
Scrums won |
3 |
|
0 |
Scrums lost |
0 |
|
0 |
Sin-bins |
0 |
|
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
Hartpury RFC: Isaac Marsh (Keir Clark 21), Brad Denty, Robbie Smith (Max Knight 67), Ollie Allsopp, Ollie Holliday, Harry Bazalgette, Sam Allford; Harrison Bellamy (George Alexander 60), Will Crane (CC) (Ethan Hunt 62), Jono Benz-Salomon (Alex Gibson 67), Peter Paramore, Jack Davies (CC), Cameron Cobbett, Harry Short (Harry Taylor 62), Tom Worts (Jarrod Hayler 44-55, 70).
Unused replacements: Rio Ebanks
Tries: Brad Denty 6, Harry Short 33, Will Crane 38, Sam Allford 43
Conversions: Harry Bazalgette 34, 44
Penalties: Harry Bazalgette 80
Ampthill RUFC: Angus Hill, Oscar Wilson, Sione Va’Enuku, Fraser Strachan (C), Joe Heslop, Luke Davidson, Efan Jones; Harrison Courtney (Richard Barrington 63), Seb Smith, Jevaughn Warren (James Johnston 50), Totoa Auvaa (Kennedy Sylvester 63), Justin Mataele, Ollie Mullarkey, Charles Rylands (Charlie West 17), Tino Mapapalangi.
Unused replacements: Harrison Dakin, Reggie Hammick, Rory Morgan, Josh Barton
Tries: Oscar Wilson 9, 40, Sione Sa’Enuku 18, 59, Seb Smith 24
Conversions: Luke Davidson 19, 60
Penalties: Luke Davidson 74
Referee: Hamish Grant (RFU)
Attendance: 1,020
Half-Time: Hartpury 17-22 Ampthill
Star Players: Tom Wortz (Hartpury) / Sione Va’Enuku (Ampthill)
Reaction:
Cornwell laments Hartpury’s ‘too many errors’
By Rhys Anderson & Luke Jarmyn, at 4ED Stadium
HARTPURY RFC’s director of rugby Mark Cornwell believes his side didn’t deserve to win Friday night’s fixture against Ampthill because of his side’s sheer number number of errors against the relation zone side.
Cornwell said: “We made too many errors, and we never got a foothold in that game during the second half, we played far too much rugby in our own half, and when we did get the ball back, we gave it straight back to them.
“It was a case of defensive set, win the ball back, turnover, defensive set, win the ball back, turnover, you can’t get a foothold into the game at all, you can’t gain any territory, and you can’t play in the right areas, and that was our problem.”
“We just didn’t play very well in the second half, especially, and against sides like this, you get punished.”
No.8 Tom Worts was forced off with a split in his head after a head-on-head collision left him grounded in the second half; he returned 10 minutes later with stitches.
On the forward, Cornwell said: “Tom Worts was outstanding today. I’m very disappointed that the face contact wasn’t picked up, but he got stitches, had a HIA and came back on.
“He rises to the challenge physically. I also thought Brad Denty, when he went to full back, was very, very good, fought hard, made some good yards, scored a good try, so I thought Brad played well.
“There were some good performances, but there were too many errors strewn across the side, and the boys need to address it.”
Hartpury scored twice by means of lineout drives, but also conceded one in the first half, and on that subject Cornwell added: “It’s nice to score a lineout drive, it’s nice to get over, but we did concede one, which we got wrong, but we then rectified it after that and stopped it the way we should have stopped it, so the boys are disappointed with that.
“That’s what I’m talking about, there were too many errors, and when I say errors, I don’t just mean dropped ball in attack, it’s set-piece errors and stuff like that, and we just made too many of them today.”
Hartpury co-captain Jack Davies was left “bittersweet” in his emotions after losing in his 100th appearance playing in red.
The club’s newest centurion said: “It’s a really proud day for the family and me, but I’m gutted about the performance and the result today.
“I don’t think we managed territory very well, and we made way too many errors, whether that’s when we’re exiting, ball in hand or missing tackles, there’s a lot to look at and a lot to put right for next Friday.
“Attacking-wise, the lineout drives are good, but we’ve conceded another one today, so it’s an area we need to address and get better at, so in attack we’re really happy, but defensively, less so.
“We can talk about playoffs all we want, but it’s about getting back in the win column and then stacking them together. The goal is playoffs, but it starts with winning.“
Over the weekend, we need to have an honest conversation with ourselves, we need to look at the game, where we’ve made errors, and come in on Monday with the energy and the enthusiasm to get better because we know Donny are a physical team.
“It’s going to be a tough game, and if we’re not on our mettle, we’re not going to get the result we want.”
