DIRECTOR of Rugby Seb Reynolds was in a positive mood after Rams’ 54-24 victory at Darlington Mowden Park ensured a fifth-placed National One finish.
Despite dominating the early exchanges, the visitors fell behind to a converted Will Jones try before they took control with three scores in eight minutes from Tom Vooght, Zach Clow and Joe Pannese.
Star man Andrew Lamb converted them all, but bottom side DMP hit back through Charlie Smith.
Rams sealed the try bonus-point as Morgan MacRae went over at the back of a maul, Lamb again on target, but Dylan Thompson kept the hosts in the game just before the break.
However, Rams stretched their legs with Ben Atkins bagging a brace, Axel Kalling-Smith dotting down and Clow doubling his tally, Lamb taking his personal points haul to 14.
And while Park claimed a late bonus through Ethan Hall-Lyon, their opponents could reflect on a job well done.
Reynolds began: “I thought it was a very good game with nice rugby from both sides – it was never going to be easy to come and put up a big score because they’re a proud team and have been playing some good rugby.
“I commend them for sticking with it after Christmas because they’ve had a tough time as a club, and we had to fight especially early on after conceding pressure and giving them the front foot.
“But we hit them with three quick tries and that got us into the swing of things – it was nice to finish with a win although they deserved the bonus-point.
“They’ve gone through challenges not too dissimilar to us, albeit a slightly different context, but we’ve both had injuries, a lot of change and had to bring youngsters through.
“In both cases you’re forced to put new players in, you don’t have a choice, and they’ve found some little gems including the last try where the second row was rapid!”
There were plenty of bright points for Rams as well, with Lamb, starting at fly-half for the first half, taking man-of-the-match honours, and the scrum completely dominant.
The DoR continued: “It suited Andrew to be more in the game. Sometimes at 15 you can drift in and out of the contest, whereas at 10 you’re constantly in the game and I thought he did very well.
“The front row was excellent and I think Ryan (Lomas) has had a very good few weeks. It was also nice to have Nick Barry back from injury, Ioan (Emanuel) and Jasper (Spandler) have fitted into the group so well on loan from Bath and Paddy (Harris) off the bench was great as ever. They did a great job.”
Having stuttered during the post-Christmas period, the Berkshire side have started clocking up the points with the Darlington win the sixth in seven games where they have scored more than 30 points.
And Reynolds explained: “We’ve tried to reconnect with the continuity game, simplifying things by just looking to win the gain-line and going from there.
“The players have enjoyed doing it and while it’s going to be messy at times, they’ve bought into it and it’s been enjoyable to see.”
At the end of a testing campaign and after a fixture which had little relevance to either side, Reynolds was grateful for the travelling support who helped fill a couple of tables at the pre-match lunch as well as George Hayman completing a full set of 26 games despite brother Max not playing.
The head coach ended: “I hope they loved seeing him run on with the water! The support from everyone is so appreciated, it was nice for Colin Stapley to be up to see Connor, and it is great to have the family environment and incredible support around the group.”
