First-half blitz puts Archers clear before late fightback

NOTTINGHAM made it two home wins on the trot under the Friday night lights at The Bay with a gritty, narrow victory against Hartpury.

The Archers raced out of the blocks, scoring 22 unanswered points in the opening 30 minutes before Hartpury made them work for victory.

Nottingham head coach Craig Hammond said: “We knew we had to be at our best. In the first 40 minutes, we played some really good rugby and we got a good lead. Frustrating second half but defensively, we stood up, where last week, we stood off a bit.”

Nottingham captain Jake Farnworth set the early tone, driving over the line from close range after just two minutes. He added his second on 11 minutes in similar fashion.

With Hartpury struggling to make headway, some brilliant running from Jack Stapley paved the way for Michael Stronge’s pace to complete a sweeping move that put the Green and Whites firmly in the driving seat.

Hartpury fly-half James Williams did get the visitors on the scoreboard before the break with a penalty to leave his side trailing 22-3.

In stark contrast to the first half, the Gloucestershire side suddenly came to life in the second and six minutes after the restart, Harry Short was able to quickly capitalise on his side’s man advantage, after Sam Hollingsworth was shown a yellow card just seconds before.

With the Archers keen not show a repeat of last week’s defeat at Richmond, where they lost a commanding first half lead, they dug in and while not being able to repeat their impressive attacking play in the first 40, their resolute defence repelled numerous waves of attacking pressure from Hartpury.

On the hour mark, Hartpury’s Cameron Jordan saw yellow for a late tackle on David Williams but Nottingham still found themselves on defensive duty in their own half.

The Archers’ resilience finally broke on 77 minutes as replacement Luke Stratford pushed over for a try, and he added another on the final whistle – but it was too little, too late.

Hartpury DoR John Barnes said: “We left ourselves with too much to do. We were happier with our second half, but you can’t start a Championship game like we did and expect to win.”