MATCH REPORT: UNDER 23s SILENCED BY THE LAMBS

RAMS Under 23s suffered a first defeat of their maiden campaign as they went down 33-26 in a floodlit home thriller against Lambs Rugby.

The visitors – much-improved from their loss to Berkshire Under 20s last month – impressed from the outset.

And their slick continuity game fashioned the opening try from No. 8 Michael van Haren.

He glided under the posts following some slick interplay, Harrison Edwards with a simple conversion.

Rams, though, hit back swiftly as a spell of sustained pressure saw skipper Harry Bicknell burrow over from close range.

Matt Cox was unable to get the conversion attempt underway after the ball was blown off the tee, but the hosts hit the front soon after.

It was another short-range score, Finlay Wells grounding out wide before Cox landed a superb nudge.

On an evening where the penalty count was 13-1 in favour of Lambs, the visitors regained the lead with Finn Tyson taking a quick tap and sniping over from the 22.

Edwards landed again, but the ebb-and-flow nature of the contest continued as Rams scored next.

And it was a fine try, Will Burrows with the initial thrust before the lively Isaac Tokura showed good footwork and power to ground.

All square at the interval

It was 19-14 after Cox landed, yet it was all square at the break after Will Neilson finished a fine team move in Clubhouse Corner.

Rams, however, struck first after the break.

And it was that man Tokura whose off-load found Theo Pett-Ridge, the full-back cutting a lovely line for another seven-pointer.

Yet Lambs responded again and enjoyed the better of possession and territory, the hosts forced into a mountain of defensive work.

The dam eventually fell as Jake Monk’s strong charge saw him bulldoze over, another conversion setting up a level game heading into the final quarter.

The away side thought they had the lead only to see a try on the left hauled back for a forward pass.

But they moved in front with five minutes remaining having set-up camp in opposition territory.

The extras were again good, and while Rams enjoyed a couple of forays towards the end, they were unable to salvage anything from a riveting contest.