Stand and deliver
Your money or your life
Hwoah
Try to use a mirror
Not a bullet or a knife
Hwoah
And even though you fool your soul
Your conscience will be mine
All mine
(Stand and deliver) da diddly qua qua (your money or your life) da diddly qua qua (Stand and deliver) da diddly qua qua (your money or your life) da diddly qua qua (Stand and deliver) da diddly qua qua (your money or your life) da diddly qua qua
Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants
Nailed to a wooden fence marking the entrance to the wooded area that leads down to the main pitch at Ampthill RFC is a notice asking folk to keep to the path and respect the area which, so it claims, is of 'scientific interest'.
In preparing for a return to Dillingham Park next season, Coventry Rugby would do well to get their hands on any data relating to said scientific interest in the hope of finding out what exactly it is that makes playing Ampthill away from home quite so difficult .
One league win there in the last 5 seasons or so makes Dillingham Park something of a bogey ground for us and whilst I've had the misfortune of seeing all those losses, I think yesterday's defeat was arguably the most frustrating.
Anything that gives us an advantage going into next year's fixture can only be to our benefit.
First though, credit must go to Ampthill. There was a fair bit of criticism directed at Cov both immediately after the game and on social media/the internet a little later, with little acknowledgement of just how good Ampthill actually were.
The home side had a game plan that didn't necessarily lend itself to the free flowing, attractive brand of rugby that we've become used to these last few months but they stuck to it and effectively nullified any threat we had to offer with a well-organised defence that in the first half, in particular, was immense.
They did a job on us and we just have to hold our hands up and say that we were as much out-thought as outplayed. Whatever Cov's failings, hats off to the opposition on this occasion.
The day started off well enough. Despite the rain and the likelihood of a good soaking at some point in the day, I was in good humour and more than confident that Cov could overcome the conditions and a Ampthill side that is always a handful when playing at home. Cov were going into the game with a run of impressive performances behind them with perhaps the result against Nottingham being the only real disappointment so far this season.
The ticket inspector on the train into Cov was a disgruntled Wasps fan who was sickened by the way the club had treated both its fans and the city generally and keen to wish Cov well both in the game and the the season as a whole.
As I said, a good start to the day.
The journey down to Ampthill was uneventful with everyone on the Supporters' Coach equally as confident, especially in the light of Coventry's away form last season which seemed to have put an end to Coventry's jitters away from the BPA in recent seasons.
There was plenty of antipathy towards Ampthill though, or at least to the it's ground.
I'm not sure why Ampthill gets such a bad press from Cov fans. I know the facilities there aren't great and there's no shelter from the elements whatsoever, but the home supporters are friendly enough.
A ticket price of just £12 (a full ten pounds cheaper than entry on the day at Cov) suggests Ampthill clearly recognises it can't provide the same level of match day experience as most clubs in the Championship, but the food available there is good (and with healthier options than Cov!) and the bar is well staffed and service speedy. It really doesn't pretend to be anything other than it actually is and whilst I can think of more comfortable grounds to watch a game of rugby at in the Championship, Ampthill deserves the right to be playing in the second tier of English rugby.
Comments questioning the club's place in Championship, and there were certainly one or two made in earshot yesterday, don't sound nearly as persuasive when your side has just been beaten and deservedly so at that.
Images showing just how exposed to the elements Ampthill's ground is
Within the crowd of just 757, there seemed to be a good percentage of Coventry supporters and they were certainly the more vocal when the teams appeared from the woods to make their entrance onto the pitch for the 2.00 pm kick off. No floodlights means that an early start is a necessity once the clocks have gone back.
Despite all the rain we'd had in the days leading up to the game, the pitch was in great condition and certainly didn't appear to cut up or become quaggy as one might have expected. That said, conditions must have favoured Ampthill and had the game been played on a plastic surface I think we might well have seen a different outcome. There was no lack of effort from the Cov players and there will have been some very tired legs out there, but if Cov is to be as successful away from home as it needs to be to make further progress, then the surface has to become an irrelevance.
From the kick off it was all Cov, and so it remained for the next 30 minutes. I'm not sure I can recall a more one-sided opening half hour as I witnessed yesterday with Ampthill never in our half other than to chase the occasional clearance.
Within just 3 minutes Cov had scored. And it was cracker, too, with Louis James finding a gap and beating a couple of defenders with ease to calm any early nerves amongst the supporters, if not the players.
From then on it was all Cov for the next 25 plus minutes, with much of that time spent within Ampthill's 22. But there was to be no further reward for all Cov's territorial dominance; Ampthill's defence was simply superb.
Yes, Cov made it slightly easier for them by losing a couple of line-outs or by uncharacteristically giving away possession through the odd unforced error, but Ampthill fronted up magnificently and Cov just couldn't break them down again. Time and time again we had good ball just a few metres out, but Ampthill's forwards were able to effectively nullify Cov's driving maul and when we did try to get the ball wide, their defensive line was up quickly to ensure we didn't find any width.
In the end the 25 or so minutes after James' opening score proved to be the equivalent of
Mohammed Ali's 'Dope on a Rope', with Cov doing its best to imitate the hapless George Foreman. Ampthill were prepared to let Coventry try and punch holes in its impregnable defence, frustrating both the players and away supporters in so doing.
Then, when the moment was right, delivering the sucker punch as their big inside centre went on a jinking run, earning the luck of the bounce following a hack through to score under the posts following a mistake from James.
Ampthill quickly followed this up with a second try when Louis James' clearance was charged down, allowing the A's winger to race through unopposed. You had to feel for the Cov full back - he's made such strides over the past 12 months and looks a really good prospect, good enough to keep Tobi Wilson on the bench for the time being, but yesterday just wasn't to be his day in the end.
As so often the case, it was a game of could and should haves. Coventry could have been home and hosed by half time had they been more clinical in those opening 30 minutes. How many good try scoring opportunities weren't taken - three or four perhaps? I don't want to be overly critical because this is still a relatively young side who haven't been together for long, but there was enough experience out on the pitch yesterday to have shifted things round slightly when tactical changes were needed.
Coventry seem very reluctant these days to build a score, to take the easy points and ensure the scoreboard keeps ticking over. Ampthill did that very successfully in the second half and from some distance out, opting to take a couple of three pointers very earlier on in the second half so that a 7 point lead at the break quickly turned into a 13 point lead. Thereafter, Coventry were forced to chase the game a little.
There were several opportunities for Cov to go for goa in the first half, but on every occasion we opted to kick to the corner and go the bigger prize. I guess teams that choose to take the kick are effectively conceding that they don't think they can score from the ensuing lineout on the opposition line (which was indeed the case yesterday when Ampthill repeatedly disrupted Cov's catch and drive - and not always legally at that), giving the opposition something of a psychological advantage. However, there are times, and for me yesterday was a case in point, when a change in the game plan might not have been a bad thing.
Ampthill conceded 13 penalties in total to Cov's 7 and several of these were in kickable areas. Pat Pellegrini had one of his quieter days, given little room to show his mercurial skills, something presumably Paul Turner had worked on in the build up to the game. One of those 7 penalties was for some backchat (Matt Kvesic?) which as I recall indirectly resulted in Ampthill's final try, but generally Coventry's discipline was a real positive given the circumstances.
Unfortunately, though (and this is just my opinion) for a fly half of his ability, at the moment Pat Pellegrini's place kicking just isn't consistent enough and there's no certainty that he would have kicked the points even if Cov decided to take the option. It's an area of his game he'll need to work on if he is to move on to bigger and better things in the next couple of seasons and merit the opportunity he so obviously deserves.
Although Cov wasn't able to make the most of an Ampthill yellow in the first half, a second Ampthill yellow saw Cov race in three quick tries to take a 24-20 lead into the final quarter. However, that was as good as it got.
Both Martin and Hutler, the two Cov wingers, rarely saw the ball and the two tries they scored showed just what a threat they are with ball in hand. However, Ampthill ensured we rarely played with any width and as a result any threat they offered, or indeed the backs generally, was snuffed out at source.
From then on, Ampthill's game management was exemplary, denying Cov any quality ball and running the clock down in the final few minutes as they kept possession to ensure what in the end was a very well deserved victory, much as it pains me to say it.
I do think it's important not to read too much into the result though. Ampthill's win shows what we've known all along, any club in this league is capable of causing an upset - if indeed Cov's loss can be seen as a genuine upset. I'm not altogether sure it can.
This week it was out turn to be humbled but it's a long season and maybe it will be Donny in the firing line next, or Ealing or Bedford. That's one of the great things about the Championship at the moment.
Whilst I was a little surprised by the manner of the defeat, a win was never guaranteed - Ampthill are far too good a side for that to be the case - and in Paul Turner they have one of the most adroit Head Coaches in the game. Cov will regroup and they have next weekend off, so there's plenty of time to revisit the game and look at what could have been done differently, especially in those opening thirty minutes in which we had so much ball but had relatively little to show for it.
Marathons v sprints and learning processes all spring to mind. If the squad ends up being a little tougher, mentally rather than physically, then it's not been a wasted experience. Early days still.
Cov were mugged over at Ampthill and all credit to the opposition for that. The Mob rules for the time being. They've taken the spoils for now
However, there's the return fixture to look forward to, a chance to get our own back on home territory.
And to any Ampthill players or supporters reading this:
...Even though you fool your soul Your conscience will be mine All mine
Of that I am Adam Ant...
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