News
REPORT | Blues fall to defeat at home to Coventry
Bedford Blues concluded their 21/22 home Championship campaign in frustrating circumstances as Coventry secured a 17-15 victory at Goldington Road.
Again it appears that having a bye weekend leading into a home fixture did no favours for Mike Rayer's side who were able to show their free-flowing best in parts, but a mounting penalty count ultimately took any ascendency away and left the side deflated at full-time.
Assistant Coach, Jake Sharp said: "We're really frustrated. We've let ourselves down from where we were last time out against Nottingham; there was inaccuracy, ill-discipline and that gave Coventry enough chances to win the game.
"We just have to roll onto next week really. The lads owe Mike a performance for his 500th game in charge against London Scottish next weekend."
Blues were on the back foot for the majoirty of the first-half but somehow ended up heading back to the changing in-front by 10-7 thanks to another unbelieveable team try when firmly under the cosh.
Coventry struck first after just nine minutes through a penalty try. Throughout the game they attempted to use their driving maul and on this occassion it worked a treat for them as they forced Bedford into submission and with it, Luke Frost was sent to spend ten minutes in the sin bin.
They didn't make too much of the situation though as Blues came roaring back. First Louis Grimoldby was stopped 2m short when going for the try, before he slotted a penalty mere minutes later to get Blues on the scoreboard.
Coventry dominated first-half possession and territory from there but were left fruitless in their efforts. They were held up twice from driving mauls as they lay siege to the try line but could never quite get over again.
Blues soaked up all that defensive pressure before letting loose and in the blink of an eye had overturned possession and sent Dean Adamson under the sticks. There was a bit of ingenuity from Grimoldby in the move as Deano moved onto 94 tries in his Bedford Blues career.
That concluded the first-half action but it wasn't long until play was halted again for another farcical uncontested scrums chat. Both Coventry tightheads were withdrawn with concussion, but nobody left the field in addition as the visitors were allowed to keep 15 men on the field and stop a weapon which Blues had been utilising to good effect in the opening 40 minutes.
That additional stoppage - and the duration of time it took for the officials to work out the rules - prevented the flow of the game from ever really returning to the levels normally seen in a Bedford v Coventry fixture.
Coventry again struck first in a half as they went back in-front through another driving maul. From what felt like 20 attempts they had with lineouts in the 22m, they were always going to score a few and got their second five-pointer after 51 minutes as Jordan Poole crashed over.
Just after the hour, Blues scored their second try as Matt Worley marked his 50th appearance with suitable aplomb. Blues were patient in their build-up before unleashing a killer inside ball and no-one was able to stop Worley in full flight.
A Tony Fenner penalty swung momentum back in Coventry's favour but Blues had the chance to win it shortly after but Will Maisey's own penalty attempt drifted just wide of the right hand upright.
Blues huffed and puffed in the latter stages as they tried to find a route to victory but they couldn't blow the Coventry house down as the away side secured their first victory on the road this season.
No time to dwell on the result as we prepare for a monumental occassion in the club's illustrious history next weekend at London Scottish. Director of Rugby, Mike Rayer will contest his 500th competitive game in charge of the club in a hugely special day for the family who have sacrificed so much for this club.
*Matchday Photography by Claire Jones - redhatphoto.co.uk*
Teams
BEDFORD BLUES
15. Matt Worley, 14. Pat Tapley, 13. Jamie Elliott (48'), 12. Joel Matavesi, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Louis Grimoldby (52'), 9. Connor Tupai (48'); 1. Joey Conway (57'), 2. Jacob Fields (57'), 3. Ed Prowse (57'), 4. Jordan Onojaife, 5. Alex Woolford (52'), 6. Luke Frost, 7. Joe Atkinson (48'), 8. Tui Uru
Replacements
16. Will Biggs (57'), 17. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (57'), 18. Osman Dimen (57'), 19. Oli Stedman (52'), 20. Ollie Newman (48'), 21. Alex Day (48'), 22. Will Maisey (52'), 23. James Little (48')
COVENTRY
15. Louis Brown (61'), 14. Rob Stevenson, 13. Will Owen, 12. Tom Curtis (58'), 11. Tom Stanton, 10. Tony Fenner, 9. Josh Barton (58'); 1. Toby Trinder (65'), 2. Jordan Poole, 3. Matt Johnson (36'), 4. Adam Peters, 5. James Tyas, 6. Tom Ball (40'), 7. Josh Bainbridge, 8. Ryan Burrows
Replacements:
16. Joe Richardson (65'), 17. Luc Jeannot (41'), 18. Jake Bridges (36') (40'), 19. Geordie Irvine, 20. Fred Betteridge (40'), 21. Dan Babos (58'), 22. Andy Forsyth (58'), 23. Rob Knox (61')
REFEREE
Sara Cox
ATTENDANCE
2,818
