Ampthill 22 Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 12

In a first half littered with errors, poor tactical kicking, soft penalty concessions and a faltering lineout, Stortford struggled to string any periods of possession together and did well to turn round only 10 points in arrears, thanks to some strong and determined defending. The home side, by contrast were a model of control and consistency, being content to run through phase after phase before even thinking of going wide. It was just such a passage of play that led to the first try after 12 minutes, building from one of several 5 metre lineouts from penalties conceded far too readily by the visitors. Several thrusts from Ampthill's powerful forwards were rebuffed, but they showed good patience, sucking in Stortford's defence before finally and very clinically spinning the ball wide for their left wing to touch down out wide. James Pritchard kicked an excellent conversion from the touchline. Despite dominating possession and territory for the rest of the half, though, all the home side had to show for it was a penalty goal to Pritchard after 35 minutes for what appeared to be a harsh call of a high tackle.

Stortford finally found a bit of rhythm early in the second half, managing to string together a series of driving plays by the pack to give the backs some rare space. Matt Riddington was quick to seize on this, making a strong outside break and then finding Ryan Hutler cutting inside with a pinpoint offload, allowing the winger to plunge in for an unconverted try close to the touchline. Ampthill then resumed control, but were held out again by some excellent Stortford defence, until an easy turnover, as Stortford broke from the back of a scrum in their own half caught them off balance and a testing crossfield kick from flyhalf, Lawrence Rayner was not dealt with at all, allowing the home left winger, to run in his second try. Another great conversion stretched the lead to 12 points after 25 minutes. Stortford again fought back, but two forays into the Ampthill 22 were frustrated by penalties for fringing at rucks right on the try line. The home side took full advantage of these escapes to work their way downfield , where further penalties were conceded by the visitors, the second also bringing a red card for Dan Leo for what was deemed a dangerous tackle, even though it was at knee level. This was shortly followed by another Ampthill try, as time was running out, when a badly-missed tackle allowed the home side's replacement scrum half to break from the back of a ruck and dash over from20 yards out without a hand being laid on him. The conversion was missed and there was just enough time for Stortford to win a penalty of their own, which went to touch for a 5 metre lineout, from which the pack was able to drive over for a try to James Apperley. This, unfortunately proved to have been too little, too late, as Tom Banks' successful conversion was the last act of the game .