London Scottish put in a disappointing display at Dillingham Park against long time rivals Ampthill as they failed to pick up that all important victory. Ampthill flew out of the traps early and scored four tries before half time to register their bonus point and all but kill the game before the break.

The first half was categorised by errors from London Scottish as well as Ampthill pouncing on key moments. Scottish of pride themselves on winning the ‘crumbs’ and pouncing on a loose ball coughed up off a contestable kick or a 50/50 challenge.

However, today it was Ampthill who won almost all of those and as a result had broken field ball to play with all afternoon. At the set piece, the first half also saw Ampthill dominate at scrum time, winning crucial penalties that would advance them down the field and prevent the Exiles from getting any territory.

Scottish knew going into the second half they needed to react and react fast. However, Ampthill once again came out the blocks faster and scored just after the break. This seemed to spark Scottish into life as they worked the field position for a maul try from distance which involved almost the entire fifteen!

Ampthill then looked to shut the game down and did so expertly. Not allowing the game to loosen up and were able to control proceedings, eventually leading to another score from the home team.

Scottish once again responded with a lovely score from Roma Zheng as he beat off a number of defenders down the right hand side to set up a lovely score in the corner. Ampthill would once again hit back with one of their own before Jonah Holmes found a gap in the middle of the park to streak clear for a try of his own.

Finishing the game at 38-19, Scottish will feel disappointed at their performance. One that never got going against a side they have traditionally struggled against. Going into a week off before visiting Bedford Blues, the side must find answers to this slump before the end of the season.