Round 4 Round-Up
Catch up on the weekend's action in The Championship.
While Round 4 didn't throw up many of the closest scorelines of the new season, there were some eye-catching performances over the weekend; not least at Butts Park Arena, where Coventry dismantled a previously unbeaten Doncaster Knights side 51-7.
David Williams ran in four tries for Nottingham against Ealing Trailfinders, but The Archers were unable to stop the league leaders from taking a bonus-point win at Lady Bay. Richard Hardwick crossed twice for Ealing, with Mike Willemse, Will Goodrick-Clarke, and Max Bodilly also getting on the scoresheet, as The Trailfinders banked their fourth straight win to move four points clear at the top of the table.
In the other Friday evening kick-off, Ampthill carried on their impressive early season run with a bonus-point win against London Scottish to climb to second. A hard-fought first half saw both side cross twice, with Will Talbot-Davies and Will Trenholm going over for The Exiles and Brandon Jackson and Tobias Elliot scoring for The Mob. Ampthill went on to dominate the second half, and added three more to their tally, with Jackson bagging his brace, plus Kapeli Pifeleti and Ben Chapman also getting on the scoresheet. Gwyn Parks put in another steady performance from the tee, slotting four conversions and one penalty, and is now the second highest points scorer in the league behind Ealing Trailfinders' Craig Willis.
Cambridge's winless run continues after a home defeat to Hartpury, but Richie Williams' side will take solace from clinching a third bonus point of the season after a four-try haul. Eli Caven [pictured below] scored twice to take his tally to four for the season, while front row duo Jake Ellwood and Morgan Veness also crossed. Hartpury impressed in the first half with tries from Robbie Smith, Joe Rees, Mike Austin, and Brad Denty to open up a 21-point lead at the break, before Sam Lewis and Tommy Mathews added two more midway through the second half, as the visitors secured their first win of the season.
Cornish Pirates returned to action after a three-week absence, and produced a dominant performance against Caldy at The Mennaye. It took the Pirates just 22 minutes to bring up the bonus point after a Penalty Try and three quick scores from Hugh Bokenham, Matt McNab, and Alex Schwarz, before Caldy reduced the deficit with a brace from their top scorer, Matt Gallagher before the break. The hosts added three more after the restart, with Ioan Evans bagging a double and Bruce Houston getting a try on debut, but the last word went to Caldy with Will Robinson crashing over for a late consolation try with the clock in the red.
Coventry bounced back from defeat at Ampthill in Round 3 with a stunning win against Doncaster Knights. After Will Rigg and Peter Roberts traded early tries, there was only one team racking up points on the scoreboard, much to the delight of the Butts Park faithful, as Will Wand and James Tyas added two more before the break. Rigg brought up the bonus point two minutes after the restart with his second and Coventry's fourth, before James Martin, Tobi Wilson, Ryan Hutler, and Lucas Titherington added to the damage in a dominant second half display to send Doncaster Knights crashing to their first defeat of the season. The result sees Coventry climb to fourth with a game in hand, as Alex Rae's men now set their sights on a mouth-watering showdown next Saturday: Ealing Trailfinders away.
