News
REPORT | Blues left dejected after Coventry defeat
It was a case of what might have been as Bedford Blues suffered a mightily frustrating 15-14 defeat to Coventry as their long winless run at Butts Park Arena continued.
Blues left far too many points out on the field in both halves and that ultimately cost them as Coventry - who at one stage went down to 13 men - held on to secure a morale boosting victory after a few weeks of tough results.
Forwards Coach, Sean McCarthy said: "I think we got what we deserved. I think everyone in the squad is disappointed with how we performed and it's a massively disappointing day. We need to concentrate on what we're good at and not having this yo-yo effect with performances.
"We'll look at a lot of things in the week. We need a reaction next weekend against London Scottish."
It all started so well for Mike Rayer's side who opened the scoring with just ten minutes on the clock. After the initial driving maul was halted, Jack Hughes peeled away to charge through the last man and dot down his first try of the season. Birthday boy, Will Maisey slotted the conversion.
Blues were causing all manner of problems to the Coventry lineout in the early stages and dominating in the scrum but they couldn't capitalise further in terms of points on the board during the passage of play when they they were in control.
Two chances came and went as Joe Atkinson couldn't quite get the offload to Tui Uru who would have gone under the posts, while Dean Adamson wasn't too far away before being accused of losing it in the last tackle.
Coventry grew into the game the longer it progressed and following an opening 18 minutes without conceding a penalty, Blues began to make errors at the breakdown and let the hosts up the field.
They eventually made their pressure count through Josh Barton but that was it in terms of points in the first half as Blues battled really hard against the wind to lead at the break. They could have gone in with an even healthier lead, but were adjudged to have crossed on a driving maul as Luke Frost went over.
In the second half, Blues should have kicked on with the wind on their side but ill discipline reared its ugly head again. With Oli Stedman's yellow card timer carrying over to the second half, Coventry went and scored 10 unanswered points to build a healthy lead, including a try for former Blue, Tom Griffiths.
Blues never really got going in the second half and each time they put themselves deep in Coventry territory, they either lost the scrum or overthrew a lineout. It happened a good five or six times and Blues were eventually made to pay for not taking the multitude of chances presented to them.
Even when Coventry went down to 13 men for two deliberate knock-ons in quick succession, Blues managed to concede five penalties in that period and showed no sign of getting to the line.
Blues actually looked better when Coventry were back to a full compliment and at least secured a bonus point late on thanks to Connor Tupai's try in the corner. But this was another frustrating trip to the West Midlands as Blues will wonder just quite how they managed to lose.
Back to back one point defeats in Coventry after last season's 10-9 reverse. We go again against London Scottish next Saturday. Join us at Goldington Road, buy tickets here.
*Matchday Photography by Patrick Anthonisz*
Teams
BEDFORD BLUES
15. Rich Lane (C), 14. Pat Tapley (64'), 13. Jamie Elliott, 12. Ethan Grayson (64'), 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey, 9. Alex Day (50'); 1. Joey Conway (50'), 2. Jack Hughes (70'), 3. Osman Dimen (50'), 4. Luke Frost, 5. Alex Woolford, 6. Oli Stedman (71'), 7. Joe Atkinson (67'), 8. Tui Uru
Replacements
16. Josh Pieterse (70'), 17. Corrie Barrett (50'), 18. Ed Prowse (50'), 19. Robin Williams (71'), 20. Bailey Ransom (67'), 21. Connor Tupai (50'), 22. Louis Grimoldby (64'), 23. Matt Worley (64')
COVENTRY
15. Louis Brown, 14. Samuel Aspland-Robinson, 13. Andy Forsyth, 12. Tom Griffiths, 11. Louis James (71'), 10. Tony Fenner, 9. Josh Barton (57'); 1. Toby Trinder (57'), 2. Jordan Poole (53'), 3. Phil Boulton (C) (57'), 4. Max Williams (57'), 5. Jon Kpoku, 6. Adam Peters, 7. Aaron Hinkley, 8. Fred Betteridge
Replacements:
16. Joe Richardson (53'), 17. Luc Jeannot (57'), 18. Will Hurd (57'), 19. Nile Dacres (57'), 20. Thomas Ball, 21. Joe Snow (57'), 22. Evan Mitchell, 23. Rob Knox (71')
REFEREE
Jack Makepeace
ATTENDANCE
2,047
