Rampant Amersham on try trail (From Bucks Free Press)

Rise: We've really began to gel

5:00pm Thursday 7th March 2013 in Sport By Alan Feldberg

AFTER 26 tries in their last three games, it’s easy to forget Amersham & Chiltern lost six of their first seven South West One East matches this season.

But under Alun Rise the club has gradually found their feet and in the last few weeks they have been reaping rich rewards.

An 11-try destruction of Malvern in a 73-33 victory on Saturday came after they put 66 points on Maidenhead in their last home match and Rise believes the signs for next season are good.

He said: “In the last few weeks we’ve really began to gel. We started off very poorly this season, but the last quarter has been very, very good.

“We’ve scored 26 tries in our last three games and it looks like we’re going to be safe. Relegation is always in the back of your mind, but we’re 15 points clear of the next team now.”

If they had concerns, Saturday’s crushing win ended them as they raced into a 31-0 lead inside half an hour.

Malvern responded bravely, but Amersham piled on the pressure again after the break with Dave Skelton (2), Rhys Keith (2), Dave Hughes (2), Sam Portland, Jono Bradbury, Tom Blackburn, Stuart Day and Tim Lloyd all crossing.

Rise, who reserved special praise for Bradbury and Portland, said: “It was a very, very good day at the office. Our set piece was good and that gave us the platform to go forward and score some cracking tries.”

On Saturday they host Newton Abbot, aiming to take the next step and beat a top-four outfit.

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