News
REPORT | Blues win first leg at Nottingham
Bedford Blues will take a 24 point lead back to Goldington Road after a commanding 38-14 victory over Nottingham in the First Leg of their Championship Cup Round One encounter.
It was a game that will be remembered for Dean Adamson becoming the 11th member of the club's Try Century Club after he dotted down twice to reach the landmark figure, but his was just one of many superb performances as the squad kicked off their cup exploits in solid fashion.
Assistant Coach, Jake Sharp commented post-match that it maybe took Bedford a little while to start aiming for the posts but such was their confidence, the insistence of going to the corner did produce some rewards when implemented to secure a healthy lead at half-time in the tie.
It took Blues a little while to charge into full throttle as Nottingham struck first for an early 7-0 advantage; winger James Peachey scoring his first try for the Archers in the corner after just four minutes.
Blues rallied from there as they began to enter the Nottingham 22m quite consistently as Louis Grimoldby and Alex Day controlled the game beautifully and provided the platforms for those around them to gain yardage.
After Reece Marshall was held up, Blues came back with the same driving maul weapon and this time got over the whitewash through captain, Joe Atkinson. A smart nudge from Grimoldby made it a tied game.
Blues continued to up the ante in the middle part of the first 40 but did find a stubborn Nottingham in their way. A few passes with the try line beckoning being deemed forward didn't help on the occasiosn they did breach the line, so Grimoldby opted for the three on the half hour to put Blues in-front for the first time.
Another penalty soon followed before Blues again went back to searching for the line. This time they found it as Adamson racked up try 99 with the final passage of play in the first-half. The conversion hit the post meanign Blues led 18-7 at the break.
After the restart, Blues carried on where they left off with good intent, even if they couldn't quite find the line. Nottingham debutant Emeka Ilione quickly saw yellow for his part in collapsing the maul and durng his time in the sin bin, Grimoldby kicked two more penalties.
Nottingham started to garner more of a foothold once they were back to the full compliment and did dot down a second try through co-captain Jack Stapley after Blues had initially stood firm in defence to prevent them crossing for multiple phases.
The effort exerted to get the try seemed to take too much out of the Nottingham forwards as they looked dishevelled and allowed Blues to profit. After four successive scrum penalties on the 5m, and having had a yellow card shown to another Nottingham debutant, Dan Richardson, the referee had no other choice but to award a penalty try.
The stage was then set for Adamson to do his magic and get his 100th try in just 132 Blues appearances. It was a perfectly executed move across the field to send the flying winger in the clear and sign off a good evening's work for Mike Rayer's side.
*Matchday Photography provided by Claire Jones - redhatphoto.co.uk*
Teams
BEDFORD BLUES
15. Matt Worley, 14. Pat Tapley, 13. Jamie Elliott, 12. Tom Litchfield, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Louis Grimoldby (60'), 9. Alex Day (60'); 1. Joey Conway (70'), 2. Reece Marshall (48'), 3. Osman Dimen (48'), 4. Jordan Onojaife (54'), 5. Alex Woolford, 6. Bailey Ransom, 7. Joe Atkinson (C) (70'), 8. Tui Uru (54')
Replacements
16. Jacob Fields (48'), 17. Leroy O'Neil (70'), 18. Corrie Barrett (48'), 19. Robin Williams (54'), 20. Oli Stedman (54'), 21. Jack Hughes (70'), 22. Jake Garside (60'), 23. Will Maisey (60')
NOTTINGHAM
15. Jack Stapley (CC), 14. Harry Graham, 13. Elliot Creed (68'), 12. Jacob Cussick, 11. James Peachey (54'), 10. Morgan Bunting, 9. Sam Edwards (60'); 1. Aniseko Sio (34') (51') (72'), 2. Archie Vanes (75'), 3. Dan Richardson, 4. Lewis Chessum, 5. Scott Hall (CC) (60'), 6. Jacob Wright (54'), 7. Nathan Tweedy (73'), 8. Emeka Ilione
Replacements:
16. Storm Hanekom (34') (51') (75'), 17. Toby Williams (72'), 18. Liam Bishop (73'), 19. Callum Allen (60'), 20. Lewis Barrett (54'), 21. Michael Stronge (60'), 22. Elliot Bale (68'), 23. Theo Manihera (54')
REFEREE
Jack Makepeace
ATTENDANCE
750
