RAMS held off a ferocious second-half comeback to end Rosslyn Park’s unbeaten start to the season and climb to second in the National One table with a 24-21 victory at Old Bath Road.

The home side set an electric pace in the first half and took a deserved lead on eight minutes when a couple of cute off-loads from Drew Humberstone and Ellis Jones created a gap for Henry Bird to race over the line.

Jacob Atkins – returning on loan from London Irish five years after his previous spell with Rams – knocked over the conversion to make it 7-0, and as a pumped-up home side continued to force errors from the table-toppers, they moved further in front with a Jamie Guttridge score.

The move had been started by the excellent Ollie Cole, the scrum-half defusing a potential Park attack with an intercept before racing down the field. A couple of phases later Guttridge made his way across the whitewash and with Atkins again on target with the boot, Rams led 14-0.

Things got even better for the hosts shortly after as another fine move in midfield ended with Humberstone producing a beautiful inside ball for Bird to streak clear for his fifth try of the season.

Atkins again added the extras, and another penalty from the stand-off – which also saw Ali Wade sent to the sin-bin – gave Rams a 24-0 advantage at the end of an outstanding first 40 minutes from the hosts.

Rams came flying out of the blocks again at the start of the second period, but after choosing to turn down a kickable penalty in search of a try bonus-point, they were held up over the Rosslyn Park line.

However, following an unfortunate and lengthy break due to an injury to Park prop Ollie Dawe, the away side hit back with a vengeance despite their numerical disadvantage, getting on the scoreboard as the prolific Ben Howard received a pass on the left wing before dotting down.

Luc Smith – the younger brother of England star Marcus – landed a fabulous touchline to conversion to reduce the deficit to 17 points, and Park further cut the gap when centre Phil Cokanasiga crossed to the right of the uprights.

Smith was again on target with the conversion, and the visitors forced the majority of the bumper home crowd to further bite their fingernails with a third score, captain Hugo Ellis powering over following some solid work from the pack.

Fly-half Smith landed the conversion to make it a three-point game, and Park threw everything at their hosts as the final 10 minutes ticked away.

However, Rams – led by the magnificent Tom Vooght – repelled their opponents with a heroic defensive rearguard and ultimately secured a dramatic victory.

Summary

Rams 24 Rosslyn Park 21

Rams

Tries: Bird 8, 25 Guttridge 21

Conversions: Atkins 9, 22, 26

Penalties: Atkins 31

Rosslyn Park

Tries: Howard 50, Cokanasiga 59, Ellis 62

Conversions: Smith 51, 60, 63

Yellow Card: Wade 37

Half Time: 24-0

Star man: Tom Vooght (Rams)

Attendance: 986

Referee: Dan Jones

Teams:

Rams: Leicester (Rossiter 60), Bird, Jones, Humberstone, Hayhow, Atkins, Cole (Monye 69; Steadman, Moffitt, Baker (McDonnell-Roberts 45), Taylor (Thomson 22, Taylor 29), Schroter (Thomson 65), Guttridge, Vooght, R Stapley.

Rosslyn Park: Robinson, Jackson, Scott, Cokanasiga, Howard, Waters (Smith 41), Gash (Lewis 53); Dawe (Hay 54), Saunders (Jackson 54), Hay (Wade 31), Gillanders, Spencer (Flashman 41), Laventure, Poole (Spencer 79), H Ellis

Stats

Penalties: Rams 8 Rosslyn Park 10

Scrums Won: Rams 4 Rosslyn Park 2

Scrums Lost: Rams 0 Rosslyn Park 0

Line-outs Won: Rams 5 Rosslyn Park 11

Line-outs Lost: Rams 6 Rosslyn Park 1