Walshe’s wizards are flying high after putting Hill to the sword
leaders Coventry ran riot to inflict a nine-try defeat on Ampthill and extend their winning run to 14 games after the Butts Park Arena passed a second pitch inspection an hour before kick-off.
Ampthill were still in the game approaching halftime, trailing 14-7, but Cov had enjoyed most of the possession and territory, and two tries in the space of three minutes sent them into half-time in full control at 28-7 before they powered away in the second 40.
The performance delighted head coach Nick Walshe, who hailed the attitude of his charges.
“We wanted to play with a good tempo and some physicality, and try to move the ball around a little bit, and I felt we did that,” said the Cov supremo. “We were a little inaccurate in the first 20 minutes, we had a lot of pressure but didn’t come away with much, but we settled into the game and generally the performance was outstanding.
“Nine tries is fantastic and the attitude was great. We’ll just keep working hard, we’ll keep our feet on the ground and try to keep putting in good performances each week.”
Cov applied all the early pressure and the breakthrough came when Tom Kessell picked up at a ruck close to the Ampthill line and darted over for a try which Will Maisey converted. It took until the 27th minute before Cov doubled their lead with a closerange try from George Oram.
Maisey again converted for 14-0, but Cov promptly handed back seven points when Kevin Barratt found a gap inside the home 22 and went over for a try which James Pritchard converted. Cov stepped up a gear and finished the half with two more converted tries, Jack Preece crashing over from close range before a stunning 50-metre break by Sam Tuitupou saw Kessell go in for his second score and Cov’s bonus point.
Max Trimble opened the second-half scoring after a break by James Stokes, and Kessell completed his hatLEAGUE
trick on the end of another run by Tuitupou, Maisey converting both scores.
Brett Daynes made it seven going into the final quarter, and Daynes then touched down a pushover scrum for his second, again converted by Fenner, before a rare Ampthill attack saw Sam Baker cross for a converted try. Fittingly, Cov had the final say with Maisey claiming their ninth try and Fenner converting to complete a fine afternoon for the hosts.
“I felt at half-time we’d left too much on the table and made so many errors, which is uncharacteristic of us,” said Ampthill head coach Paul Turner.
“We talked at half-time about getting the first score in the second and then we made the same errors. It wasn’t our day, but Coventry were far above us, they’re the best side we’ve played this season by a mile. They’re a quality outfit and every time we made a mistake in the second half they punished us.”