News
Match Report v Richmond
Bedford Blues emphatically returned to winning ways with a commanding 38-10 victory over Richmond at Goldington Road.
This was a victory all about attacking dominance and defensive clinicality as Blues put on their most complete performance of the campaign to secure their first five-point haul and temporarily move up to 6th place in the Championship table.
Bedford led from the front foot from the word go, insisting on keeping ball in hand as much as possible and showing no fear at building through the phases from anywhere on the field.
The wheels started to turn in just the 7th minute as Pat Tapley made it two in two with a neat finish on the left flank. Man of the Match, Tom Litchfield made the initial dart through the midfield before playing a sublime offload for Tapley to burst to the line.
Richmond fly-half Ted Landray reduced the deficit with a penalty in-front of the posts but that was about the only success the visitors got from their visits to the 22m in the first half-hour as Bedford continuously repelled everything that came their way.
The lead increased just after the quarter-of-an-hour as full-back Rich Lane continued his rich vein of form with his fourth of the season. This time it was debutant Reece Marshall running the initial hard lines to give Lane the easiest of jobs with a run in. Will Maisey’s conversion made it 12-3.
That swiftly became a 14-point lead as Blues continued to smash their way through the visitors and get even more reward for their efforts. After a couple of snipes from close range, Oli Robinson managed to bundle his way over to put the ball on the white line through a host of bodies.
A yellow card for Oli Curry late in the first half was just about the only blemish from a Blues perspective in the entire game; that did give Richmond some impetus and they scored during that period of numerical advantage through Myles Scott. Landray converted.
In the second half, it wasn’t quite the one-way traffic the score line may have suggested but that just goes to emphasise just how good Blues were at keeping Richmond at bay. Three attempted driving mauls and subsequent knock-ons spring to mind for the heroism in defence.
At the other end, Blues were using their own creative ingenuity at the set-piece and Jacob Fields benefited most from it to get over twice on 52 and 75 minutes respectively. Blues almost got a similar one in the first-half but Marshall was sent into touch.
At the start of the half, Josh Gillepsie got his first score in Blues colours to set the ball rolling after the restart and Blues never looked back to register an impressive winning margin and a second success of the campaign. A job well done at Goldington Road.
Teams
BEDFORD BLUES
15. Rich Lane, 14. Josh Gillespie, 13. Elijah Niko (48'), 12. Tom Litchfield, 11. Pat Tapley (69'), 10. Will Maisey, 9. Connor Tuapi (69'); 1. Emmanuel Iyogun (51'), 2. Reece Marshall (51'), 3. Ed Prowse (51'), 4. Oli Curry, 5. Lewis Bean (51'), 6. Ollie Newman, 7. Joe Atkinson, 8. Oli Robinson (69')
Replacements
16. Jacob Fields (51'), 17. Joe Wrafter (51'), 18. Henry Paul (51'), 19. Will Carrick Smith (51'), 20. Tui Uru (69'), 21. Ewan Fenley (69'), 22. Tommy Mathews (48'), 23. Andre Robson (69')
RICHMOND
15. Will Kaye, 14. Alex Goble, 13. Cameron Mitchell (C), 12. Tom Hodgson (34'), 11. Jake Caddy (53'), 10. Ted Landray, 9. Luc Jones (53'); 1. Jonny Harris (58'), 2. Jack Musk (60'), 3. Jimmy Litchfield (60'), 4. Byron Hodge (51'), 5. Freddie Hosking, 6. Jesse Liston, 7. Jack Allcock, 8. Myles Scott (46')
Replacements:
16. Mike Perks (60'), 17. Ben Christie (58'), 18. Sam Gratton (60'), 19. Alex Bibic (51'), 20. Jake Parker (46'), 21. Toby Dabell (53'), 22. Lewis Dennett (53'), 23. Oliver Evans (34')
