COVENTRY Rugby suffered a 34-24 defeat away at Ampthill despite scoring three tries in the space of six second-half minutes.
The visitors opened the scoring through Louis James try before quickfire scores from Jordon Poole, Ryan Hutler and James Martin in the second half put Coventry ahead.
However, two tries in the final 13 minutes ensured Ampthill went home with the points, denying Cov a losing bonus point late on at Dillingham Park.
The visitors scored the game’s first try after just two minutes as James dotted down following Pat Pellegrini’s break from midfield and offload before the latter added the extras.
Ampthill then lost Kaden Pearce-Paul to the sin bin with Coventry unable to make the extra man count despite playing nearly all of the first half in the opposition half.
And the home side drew level on 31 minutes when Oliver Hartley kicked ahead and gathered his own kick to score under the posts with Gwyn Parks kicking the conversion.
Ampthill struck again seven minutes later as Tobias Elliot successfully charged down James’ attempted clearing kick before touching down with Parks converting.
And Parks kicked two penalties at the start of the second period to extend the home side’s lead to 13 points.
However, after Ampthill lost Luke Green to the sin bin, Coventry made their numerical advantage count as Poole struck from a driving maul at a lineout and Pellegrini added the extras.
And Coventry scored their third try of the game just two minutes later as Hutler dotted down his eighth try of the season following an excellent chip and chase.
The visitors completed a sensational six-minute turnaround soon after as Martin produced an acrobatic finish in the corner from Matt Kvesic’s long pass.
However, Ampthill’s replacements turned the game back in the home side’s favour as Nathan Michelow drove over from a five-metre scrum and Manu Vunipola converted.
And the home side completed the scoring on 78 minutes as Samson Adejimi finished off a series of pick and drive moves and Vunipola kicked the extras.
