10^th September 2005 

Colworth and Sharnbrook XV 5 – Ampthill Extras 57 

As most of the country’s cricket fans were glad of Saturday’s rain as they sought victory in the Ashes series, Ampthill Extras hoped for a break in the downpour for their match against Colworth. 

The heavy rain did eventually stop during the match but the shower of tries delivered by the Extras remained constant throughout. The Extras showed themselves to be the stronger side, in all departments, from start to finish. A flurry of tries came as Dave ‘Silver Stubble’ Stewart and Ian Browning injected a bit of pace into the Extras’ back line. Strong runs also came from Arthur ‘Ritus’ Marsden and John Kitchiner in the centres. 

Handling in the side was better than expected given the wet conditions the match was played in and many of the tries came from good series of passes. Occasionally play was disrupted by a man in a red jersey. He spent eighty minutes strolling around the pitch taking great care not to break into a jog and regularly blowing his whistle. Perhaps he had lost his dog. 

First half tries came in the backs for Shaun Wood and Dave Stewart that were the results of good backs work. A solo run for Ian Browning and a short charge from Darren Oatley resulted in tries for both of them. 

There were second half tries for Liam Duffin (who had to pick the ball up from all of two inches in front of the try line and place down), Shaun Wood & Browning both of whom scored again to give them a brace each. John Kitchiner also broke through and scored and Richard Mardle touched down in a good team effort try that saw the ball passed quickly along the back line to Mardle who completed the move. 

There were welcome returns for Mark Loan and John Wood who have both been overseas. Before the match, with the prospect of John and Shaun Wood (no relation) both playing together, skipper Duffin was heard saying ‘its always nice to play with a Wood on and the prospect of two in one match is really quite exciting’.  

Forwards: Adam Wilson, Gez Ingarfield, Darren Oatley, Mark Loan, Terry Nelson, Liam Duffin, Arine, John Wood

Backs:  Leigh Clark, Shaun Wood, Steve Marsden, Dave Wells, Ian Browning, Dean Johnson, Rob Hill

Subs:  Richard Mardle, John Kitchiner , Jurrien Heynen , David Backhouse, Chris Day

 Tries:  Darren Oatley, Liam Duffin, Shaun Wood (2), Ian Browning (2), Richard Mardle, Dave Stewart

Cons:  Shaun Wood (5), Ian Browning