Sat 7^th Oct 00

Old Northamptonian 4^ths 13 – Ampthill Extras 24

15      Dave Ratcliffe                             1   Brian Geary ‡ 

14      Ian Burgess                                 2   Brian Todd         

11      Gary Bass                                    3   Mark McKinlay

13   Aiden Harrington                         4   Lee Bradley

12   Steve Marsden (c)                       5   Paul Rigby

10   Phil Stanton                                 6   Ray Nix

9     Laurie Barlow                              7   Roger Childs

        8   Gavin Griffith 

 16     Justin Cobley ‡ (half time)                               

 Tries:    Ian Browning, Gavin Griffith, Laurie Barlow                          

Cons:    Steve Marsden (3)

Pens:     Steve Marsden

 It has been a very long time since the Extras had put a victory over Old Northamptonians. A few of the older players can remember a draw a few years back in which Rob Hill missed a kick right at the end of the game which would have given the Extras the victory.

 On this occasion there was no Rob Hill. He’d decided to watch England lose to Germany in the world cup qualifiers in what turned out to be England’s last and most humiliating Twin Towers game. It was hoped by most of the Extras that Rob enjoyed his afternoon while they were out in the rain working hard for a victory over O.Ns.

 Regular captain Liam Duffin (Never fails to get a mention - does he write the reports or something? Ed.) out through injury could only watch from the sidelines as the Extras put in one of their best performances of the season against the Northampton outfit.

 From the start the Ampthill forwards showed they were keen not to travel home down the M1 with yet another loss against the O.Ns. After about twenty minutes Gavin at eight picked the ball up from the back of a scrum and broke blind. Ian Browning was strong in support and with a swift little pass Gav released Browning to cross the line shrugging off a high tackle in the process.

 Captain for the day Steve Marsden converted to give the Extras a 7-0 lead.

 Shortly after O.Ns. were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which they slotted over to make it 7-3.

 Ampthill’s back row were dishing out some extreme ‘in your face’ tactics against the home side which helped the visitors stay in control. Gavin Griffith playing well all afternoon, was soon rewarded with a try of his own. Gav charged to the line stretching out and just grounded the ball to make it 14-3.

 In the second half, Ampthill, now playing uphill, still had the upper hand. Steve Marsden kicked a penalty to widen the gap between the two teams to eight points. After Laurie Barlow scrambled his way over the line the visitors found themselves a very commanding 24 points to 8 in front.

 It was all Old Northamptonians could do to score conciliation try with around five minutes to go to make the final score 24 – 13 to the Extras.

 A good win for the Extras and great to see Phil Stanton back for the weekend.