Ampthill 4s 57 - Epping 2s 7

With the long trip to Milton Keynes in mind this match was to double up as both a league and semi final cup encounter.
In hind sight with two thirds of the first team unavailable for there league match against again league leaders Rochford it probably would have been better to keep the fixtures separate. Hey ho, we live and learn!!
The 2s welcomed back Skipper TC and second row Jakk Harty who had both missed the last couple of matches through various hurties.
The call for help was also received with Adam Prince and Steve Hill stepping up from third team while youngsters Dom Merrit and Luke Neaty making there senior debuts....Coach Potato also celebrated his 50th birthday by donning the shorts one last time.
The team arrived to be met by a rather bemused car park attendant who reluctantly admitted the players but only after they had confirmed that we were all referees!!
More worryingly said car park attendant also confirmed that the Ampthill 2s game had been called off..yikes!!!!

The game kicked off with the earlier worries appeared to be justified as the home side crossed the line twice in the first ten minutes.
Epping did not panic and as the half progressed managed to find there feet and spend good periods of time in the home sides twenty two. Unfortunately this pressure failed to yield any points. The closest the club came was when the ball was moved wide with the final pass agonisingly inches away from the diving Prince who crossed the line minus the ball
With minutes left in the half Ampthills crossed for there third try to leave the half time score at 17 points to nil to the home side.
Changes were made at half time with Judgey replacing Youthful in the front row. Dr Ben who had started, come off but was back on again for Steve Hill
As the score suggests Ampthill rather ran away with the second half. Epping did manage one shining light when Linners spotted a gap and used his pace to outstrip the defence to score under the posts, Potato converting.

Although this was a disappointing result there were plenty of positives to take from the game. Most significantly was the performance of the two debutants Dom and Neaty. Dom grew in confidence as the game progressed and by the end was making silky runs that had the oppositions defence in tatters. Doms performance could have given him the MOM award but was slightly edged by Neaty whose defensive tackling was exceptional all afternoon....it was the oldies that missed all the tackles!!
Epping are fortunate to have a raft of talented individuals coming through the youth system and the seniors are very much looking forward to helping them transistion into senior set up over the next couple of years.

The 2s still have two merit table matches left against Enfield and Datchworh. This Saturday however will be spent over endulging in Easter Eggs