Reds romp to 13-point win over Ampthill

Sunday 14 August 2016

Jersey Reds 35 Ampthill 22

The Reds’ second pre-season friendly was a nine-try feast of rugby, with Harvey Biljon’s side victors by 13 points over their tough Bedfordshire rivals.

Jersey won the try count 5-4, which underlined just what a close contest it was against a team a division below them in the RFU pyramid.

Coach Biljon was delighted with the work-out and although there were “a few bumps and bruises” after a muscular match-up, there were no fresh injury scares ahead of next weekend’s final pre-season friendly against Premiership outfit Worcester Warriors.

He said: “That was exactly the sort of test we needed. We didn’t have the ball for long phases and we came up against some old, streetwise heads, no doubt about that. They played to their strengths. The boys could have got frustrated but kept at it and that is a positive.

“We stuck to our tasks during the game and two or three times we almost went the length of the pitch. You have to give a lot of credit to Ampthill as we didn’t get a lot of possession in the first half and in the second half when we did get it we didn’t keep it for long enough.

“These games are not about results. They are about getting us ready for the first game of the season so we will stick to our plans.

“When we break down the game afterwards we are not really looking at the score, but the different components of the match. But the win means momentum and means we can keep building.”  

Jersey opened the scoring in the third minute with a try by No8 Nick Haining and followed that up with another through Ross Adair. The visitors hit back through Sam Baker’s try, but the gap widened to 21-5 at half-time through a Jack MacFarlane try.

After the break Ampthill responded with two quick tries to get within four points of the Reds, but Jersey reacted to the threat with a pair of tries of their own through Nick Campbell and Adair’s second.

Just before the whistle the visitors managed a fourth try with Joe Bercis going over, although the conversion was again missed for the third time in four attempts.

It was a much better test for Biljon’s team than last weekend’s 49-5 thrashing of Coventry, with Ampthill playing a full part in a robust contest.  

Ampthill coach Paul Turner, a former Wales international stand-off, said: “We have not been together much and are short of a bit of conditioning, but maybe the game last week did us a bit of a favour as Coventry leaked a few early tries and then all of a sudden they were staring at a big defeat.

“We got our act together a bit during the week and talked about being a bit more pragmatic. The major disappointment for me was we relaxed four times and got punished four times. There was a mistake late on and they scored under the posts which distorted the score a little bit.

“I was pleased at half-time and I thought we found another wind. We got back to within a few points and we missed some fairly simple conversions as well so that would have got us closer.

“In fairness to Jersey, they look a very professional outfit. They look very well drilled and their breakdown work was very good. They have come a long way since we played them last six years ago.”

Jersey: Tries: Haining 3mins, Adair 12, 72, MacFarlane 39, Campbell 63. Conv: Katz 3, 12, 39, 63, 72

Ampthill: Tries: Baker 27, 53, Goodge 50, Bercis 80. Conv: Jones 50.

Attendance: 501 Referee: Christophe Ridley