Ampthill 53 Yorkshire Carnegie 22: Carnegie run hosts close before falling to late flurry

Joe Ford kicked at penalty to give the visitors the lead but two minutes later Ampthill were level thanks to the boot of Louis Grimoldby.

Lock Jon Kpoku then touched down, Grimoldby adding the extras, but Carnegie hit back almost immediately when Tom Varndell and Tim Bitirim combined to send Dan Lancaster away for his first Championship try. Ford’s conversion shaved the wrong side of the upright.

Carnegie wing Varndell then intercepted and raced untouched to the posts and Ford added the extras to make it 10-15.

This score sparked the hosts to life and they hit back with two tries from Sam Baker in six minutes. Ampthill extended their lead before the break, prop Aleki Lutui taking a short pass from scrum-half Kevin Barrett. No conversion but 27-15 at the break.

James Elliott crossed for Carnegie five minutes into the second half and Ford was on target with the conversion.

Hooker Dave Ward crashed over for the hosts but then good defensive work kept both team scoreless for the next 20 minutes.

Ten minutes from time, however, Ampthill put the game beyond Carnegie. After being camped deep in Carnegie’s 22, Kpoku crashed through two defenders to score under the posts. Replacement fly-half Mickey Waters was successful with the conversion.

And, on 74 minutes, replacement prop Matt Collins crashed over to the left of the posts with Waters once again adding the extras.

Carnegie never let their heads drop but, in in the 78th minute, they conceded another try when Waters passed to wing Nigel Baker who broke the line. As he approached the last defender he found wing Josh Gillespie who scampered untouched under the posts, Waters adding the final points of the game.