News

REPORT | Blues put to the sword by Knights

Posted: 8th October 2022

Bedford Blues’ three match Championship winning run came to a disappointing end as their long wait for a success in Doncaster continued past a decade with a 50-19 defeat at Castle Park to Doncaster Knights.

It was a game where Mike Rayer’s side never really got going; they looked mightily impressive with ball in hand but just didn’t get hold of it often enough and were made to pay the price for ill-discipline.

Too many scrum and breakdown penalties resulted in four yellow cards throughout the contest and when statistics like that occur, it’s always going to be tough to get a positive result.

As has been the case all season, Blues were incredible with the tries they scored – Dean Adamson’s score a thing of beauty – but they were put under too much pressure in their own half by the Knights pack who made victory look comfortable in the end.

The score line is harsh and doesn’t show a true reflection of the conditions – Blues will learn a lot from this experience, dust themselves down and go again when looking for revenge against Hartpury University on Saturday 22^nd October. Buy tickets for the big game here.

It was 28-14 to Doncaster at half-time as Blues hung in the fight despite spending 80% of the time in their own half. They were resolute in defence but under such bombardment were always going to concede points.

Doncaster broke the resistance through scores by Jared Cardew, Man of the Match John Kelly, co-captain Thom Smith and Ehize Ehizode.

Blues struck back twice to level proceedings at 7-7 and 14-14 as they refused to simply roll over; Huw Taylor got the second try by burrowing under bodies to reach the line.

But it was all about the opening Blues score as George Hendy collected an aerial clearance, went on a mazy run before kicking through to the wing for Dean Adamson to collect – beat a man – and score.

Blues spent a lot of the second half with a player inferiority as the yellow cards were shown and Doncaster ultimately took advantage to run away with the scoreboard and secure all five points.

A solid scrum set and offload to Sean French to dot down his first competitive try for the club had Doncaster nervy on 35-19 but in truth, it never really felt like Blues were going to make a statement comeback.

Errors were never too far away unfortunately and each time they looked to try and build momentum, it was quickly taken away from them either through poor handling or conceding a penalty.

They huffed and puffed for a try bonus point and almost got it at the end through Adamson but this was a disappointing afternoon in spite of some of the positives that can be taken.

After five pulsating fixtures, a rest weekend should do the squad a world of good before returning to action against Hartpury University. This isn’t panic stations, just an off day, and Blues are always good for a response. Join us at Goldington Road with tickets available here.

*Matchday Photography by Claire Jones - redhatphoto.co.uk*

Teams

BEDFORD BLUES

15. George Hendy (67'), 14. Sean French, 13. Ethan Grayson (71'), 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey, 9. Alex Day (C) (61'); 1. Joey Conway (66'), 2. Jack Hughes (47'), 3. Corrie Barrett (47'), 4. Robin Williams (74'), 5. Jordan Onojaife, 6. Huw Taylor, 7. Jac Arthur, 8. Tui Uru (20')

Replacements

16. Jacob Fields (47'), 17. Lewis Holsey (66'), 18. Ed Prowse (47'), 19. Emeka Atuanya (74'), 20. Charles Rylands (20'), 21. Jake Garside (61'), 22. Matt Worley (67'), 23. Pat Tapley (71')

DONCASTER KNIGHTS

15. Harry Davey (61'), 14. George Simpson, 13. Robbie Smith, 12. Connor Edwards, 11. Maliq Holden, 10. Sam Olver (cc) (71'), 9. Alex Dolly (67'); 1. Ben Carlile (65'), 2. George Edgson (62'), 3. Jake Armstrong (58'), 4. Ehize Ehizode, 5. Ben Murphy (67'), 6. Thom Smith (cc), 7. Jared Cardew (53'), 8. John Kelly

Replacements:

16. Will Holling (62'), 17. Jake Pope (65'), 18. Karl Garside (58'), 19. Evan Mintern (67'), 20. Martin Molina (53'), 21. Joe Green (67'), 22. Joe Margetts (61'), 23. Alex Lloyd-Seed (71')