Mat back and Jonas grabs treble for high flyers Hartpury

Hartpury Col’ 49 Ampthill ........ 14

HARTPURY produced their best result of the season, if not their best performance, in dispatching fellow promotion hopefuls Ampthill in an entertaining encounter.

On a perfect day for rugby, Hartpury rocked their visitors with a sizzling opening quarter, before repeating the dose in the closing stages to put a gloss on the final score and wrap up their eighth bonus-point win in succession.

There was a welcome return for Under-20 international Mat Protheroe and from fly-half he provided the spark that had Hartpury 27 points ahead by the end of the first quarter.

He also produced an excellent performance from the kicking tee - his final kick, a conversion from wide, being his only failure.

Ampthill, by contrast were more prosaic, the strength of their forwards being their most potent weapon, but despite plenty of possession they lacked the guile to unlock a stubborn home defence and they paid the price.

After a high-paced start in which Protheroe landed two early penalties, Hartpury were rewarded for pressure on the Ampthill line when a collapsed maul led to a penalty try.

By contrast, the second, three minutes later was a beauty.

Protheroe’s cross-field kick was floated perfectly for winger Jonas Mikalcius and his inside ball gave

George Boulton a 40-metre run to the posts.

Only two minutes passed before Hartpury were in again.

With play stretching from one touchline to the other good hands, from forwards and backs combined, put Mikalcius into space.

From halfway, he had the power and the pace to break tackles and get outside the cover before finishing.

Ampthill looked shellshocked at this stage, but to their credit they dug in and worked their way back into the game.

A penalty try, awarded at the scrum, was reward for a period of intense pressure late in the half and prop Brett Sturgess scored from close range soon after the break.

Hartpury were struggling to retain possession and another Ampthill score at this point could have thrown the result into question.

But Mikalcius settled the nerves and wrapped up the bonus point for the home side with two well taken final-quarter scores, that came either side of a Harry Randall try from a Protheroe break.

TEAMS

HARTPURY COLLEGE: Wilcox, Cochrane, Boulton, Eves, Mikalcius, Protheroe, Randall, Sook, Tanner, Thompson, Oakley, Dancer, Polledri, Gilbert, Safe

Replacements: Stephenson, Merrey, Brockett, Chan, Perry

AMPTHILL: Lynch, Weightman, Hanks, Jones, Baker, Tarrant, Williams, Sturgess, Fish, Lutui, Walker, Gulliver, Bell, Bercis, Molitika M Replacements: Beesley, Collins, Molitika H, Wilson, Reeder