The league leaders made light of a 10 point deduction imposed by the RFU, ensuring their big guns were all firing against a spirited but outplayed young Malvern side. A try up in the second minute, the powerful unit from Bedfordshire demonstrated why they have powered their way to the top of the division with some cohesive forward play in the loose, backed up with incisive running from their back division. Malvern responded to the opening salvo with some good pressure of their own, but the Ampthill scrum half stole the ball at a set piece and they went through to increase the lead to 12 points. Malvern’s problems were compounded when number eight Jay Martin left the field with a bad knee injury , forcing a reshuffle in the Malvern pack, Matt Humphreys moving to flanker and Andy Murphy coming on at hooker. Humphreys was evident all afternoon, scrapping for everything along with the rest of the Malvern pack. The Spring Lane side started to make headway with a series of pick and drive moves, but Ampthill’s defence round the fringes was excellent, impeding progress. Their backs also made the most of the referee’s inability to spot them moving offside, with the result that Malvern had little space available to move the ball. Nonetheless, the Malvern backs attempted to move the ball wide, but the close attention inevitably meant that the final kick was gathered and run back at pace. Simon Daws made a break downfield but his pass wasn’t gathered and Ampthill ran back to score in the 19th minute. For the rest of the first half Malvern contested well, putting the visitors on the back foot on several occasions but just failing to make the final telling move to put points on the board. Two kickable penalty attempts were eschewed as Malvern went for the try scoring option, but Ampthill again defended stoutly to deny them.

The second half opened in similar vein to the first, with Ampthill sealing the game with a first minute score, then taking advantage of a loose Malvern clearance to put in a scything run through Malvern’s back line to add to their tally. Worryingly, Malvern then lost prop John Clark, so the versatile and combative Humphreys moved back into the front row, where he proceeded to let former Northampton prop Emms know he was there. As the game entered the last quarter, Malvern’s efforts started to creak as fatigue set in and Ampthill scored a couple of late tries to give them a deserved win, although as their coach admitted afterwards, the scoreline had perhaps flattered them somewhat.

Director of Rugby David Robins said “Whilst we can’t complain about losing to a very well drilled side, which has the benefit of former Worcester coach Clive Griffiths on their strength, I agree that the effort our lads put in didn’t reflect the effort they made. Matt Humphreys was outstanding and my Man of the match for his non-stop performance in three different positions. Most worrying is the injury toll – Jay Martin, having just come back from a knee injury, picked up another one and must be doubtful for the next few games, whilst John Clark is also a worry. With some crucial fixtures against higher placed sides left in our fight to avoid the drop, we need as many fit players as possible. Our next task is to visit bottom placed Bedford Athletic this week, where we need to win handsomely to redress our points difference with a good win.”

Reporter: Jock Rott

Updated: 8 March, 2010