Brilliant Sun and A Big Bonus Point Win Over Ampthill at the Butts!
What a glorious afternoon at the Nick Newbold Stadium! The autumn sunshine was absolutely beaming down on us in the West Midlands—perfect conditions for some classic Cov running rugby. Round six of the Elior Championship season, and we welcomed Ampthill to the Nick Newbold Stadium, eager to keep our momentum going after a decent start to the season.
We got off to the dream start, much to the delight of the home crowd. Dafydd-Rhys Tuieti made a brilliant, slicing break through the defence before unselfishly setting up Tom Ball, who raced in right under the posts. Bruce Houston added the extras, and we were 7-0 up and flying.
But you have to give Ampthill credit; they really made us work for it. They responded strongly, largely through their hooker Harrison Dakin, whose brace of tries gave them the lead at the interval. Both of theirs came from that relentless, close-range stuff—the first from a driving maul that we just couldn’t quite halt, converted by Finn Keylock to make it 7-12, and the second in near-identical fashion just before the half-time whistle. It wasn’t the prettiest first 40, and we went into the sheds behind, but you could feel the belief in the stands.
Just like the first half, the Cov boys came out for the second 40 with real intent. It didn’t take long to get back on top, with Jonny Benz-Solomon showing some serious power to drive over from close range after a well-executed lineout. Houston was spot on from the tee again, and we were back in front.
From there, the blue and white machine really started to click in the sunshine. We showed exactly what we can do, ruthlessly bagging two quick-fire tries. First Morgan Strong and then Murray Davidson capitalised on our own driving mauls, and with both converted, we’d surged into a 28-12 lead. The crowd was absolutely loving it.
Ampthill weren’t quite done, though, and they managed to capitalise on a flurry of penalties at the breakdown to send Joe Browning over in the corner, cutting our lead to 28-17.
But there was only ever going to be one winner. We finished by far the stronger of the two sides. To cap off a fantastic, hard-fought afternoon, Senitiki Nayalo darted smartly around the breakdown to seal the deal.
Final score: 35-17. Four points in the bag, plenty of sunshine, and a top-tier Saturday afternoon. Up the Cov! Let’s keep this roll going!