Persistence pays off against Fylde

AMPTHILL eventually secured a bonus point win over struggling Fylde after an attritional, scrappy second half resulted in a much-deserved victory.

The home side dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 14-point lead inside 20 minutes when firstly Josh Sharp, with quick hands, then Chris West, broke through for tries.

Fylde struggled to dampen Ampthill’s attacking threat as the home side kicked to the corners from Sharp’s boot with regular ease. Alex Woolford drove over after persistent Ampthill pressure to make the score 21-0 at half time.

From there on the dreary, autumnal Bedfordshire weather seemed to impact on a patchy first 30 minutes of the second half – Oli Parkinson with a scrappy score in the corner for Fylde the only notch on the scoreboard.

It took until the last ten minutes for the game to reignite, Ampthill finally finding the penetration they had craved when Sam Hanks went over for the coveted fourth try.

And, despite a Greg Smith breakaway try, Ampthill had the final say when James Pritchard ran through and dotted down in between the posts to finish it 35-12.

The win for Ampthill leaves them fifth in the National 1 table, with Fylde struggling at the bottom with just one win.