Green at the death to give visitors the points

IN A game that saw both sides struggle with gusty winds it was a last-ditch penalty that won the points for Cambridge in a lowscoring affair.

The first quarter saw Ampthill dominant, the pack in control in the tight and maul while the loose exchanges were more even.

Amps were deep in the Cambridge red zone on multiple occasions, but failed to capitalise, while the vistors’ defence was outstanding throughout, repeatedly stopping the home forwards on the gain line.

On nine minutes No.8 Maama Molitika broke Cambridge’s defensive line following multiple red zone phases, fly-half Josh Sharp adding the extras.

Turning round 7-0 up, Ampthill’s connections would have been concerned at the size of the lead, the poor decision making and the lack of control.

The visitors dominated the second half both in territory and possession, but Amps held out until the 71st minute when a missed tackle in midfield produced a two-on-one and a simple unconverted try from Cambridge outside centre Albert Portsmouth.

Having been dominant at the scrummage for much of the game the home side were then penalised at a scrum following the restart.

The resulting penalty saw another fine kick from hand and a simple penalty goal chance, kicked by Jack Green for the win.