News

REPORT | Blues cling on to defeat Nottingham

Posted: 3rd December 2022

Bedford Blues remain unbeaten at Goldington Road this season heading into Boxing Day after a thrilling, if somewhat nail-biting, 32-31 victory over Nottingham who were more than worthy of their two losing bonus points.

Billed as one of the standout fixtures this weekend – 4^thv 5^th, two sides who like to throw it about, and both sides have been scoring at will so far this season. The game lived up to the hype in a topsy turvy affair which saw both sides showcase attack and defence in equal measure.

There were times in which it became a real chess match with both vying for territory and possession but ultimately, it came down to the boot of the Championship’s leading marksman Will Maisey that did the greatest damage as he kicked another 12 points to take him past a century for the campaign and over 300 for the club.

Assistant Coach Jake Sharp gave an honest assessment after the final whistle: “There’s some real basic stuff which we need to fix up.

“Our lineout fell apart a bit at the end; sometimes we try to do the special bit rather than the simple things really well. We’re pleased with the win, bonus point and the crowd really got behind us again today. That support helped us get the job done.”

Following a weekend off action, both sides looked a little sluggish in the opening exchanges as they wrestled with each other and tried to stay patient to build into the game. It was a very tactical and technical opening 25 minutes, as both tried to seize on mistakes and make life difficult for their opponent.

Driving maul defence has been a constant problem for Bedford and Nottingham profited on three different occasions, including to break the deadlock as Harry Clayton led his troops to the line.

Blues hadn’t really got into the Nottingham 22m before a surge of energy over a quick couple of minutes around the half hour mark to build a nice little lead for themselves.

Against his former employers, Luke Frost stretched a big hand to the line before Joey Conway – on the match his family flew into town from Ireland – gave them what they were looking for by cutting a really clever inside line to score.

Points from Will Maisey made it 17-5, before Nathan Tweedy cut the deficit for half-time.

Ill discipline was a problem for both sides and Blues spent a passage of that first half with 13 men on the field. They showed grit and determination to stay in the fight during that period, but they also started the second half with 14 and Nottingham capitalised to level the scores.

Next it was Nottingham’s turn to fall on the wrong side of the whistle and soon they were down to 13 men as forwards duo Lewis Chessum – an absolute giant – and Tweedy were sent to the sin bin.

Blues took control, Karl Wilkins putting them back in-front before replacement Jake Garside dotted down the bonus point score.

That should have seen Bedford out of sight with a 15-point advantage and just seven minutes to play but Nottingham had other ideas to set nerves jangling at Goldington Road.

Michael Stronge finished off a really crisp counterattacking move to close the gap before John Neville took advantage of a poor kick through from Michael Le Bourgeois to make it a one-point game heading into the final passage of play.

Bedford managed to muster one final counter punch to get the ball back and continue their unbeaten start at home.

Man of the Match, Will Maisey said: “We can be happy with the win, five points at home, but there were bits of our game that just weren’t good enough and I think on another day we’d have lost that one.

“We showed some good resilience which is pleasing. We’ve got to keep improving every week.”

Nottingham Head Coach, Craig Hammond commented: “Not many teams will take two points from Goldington Road. Lots to learn but really proud of our guys, particularly when down to 13 men to score some tries and get it back to within a point.

“Bedford are a really good team, and you can see why you’re unbeaten at home. It was a real good challenge for our guys and really enjoyed it.

“Another couple more minutes we might have snuck a win. Great atmosphere, 2,500 in the ground screaming at us and our boys really stood up to that challenge.”

Teams

BEDFORD BLUES

15. George Hendy (25'), 14. Matt Worley, 13. Sean French, 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey (71'), 9. Alex Day (C) (64'); 1. Joey Conway (51'), 2. Jack Hughes (61'), 3. Oisin Heffernan (68'), 4. Robin Williams, 5. Luke Frost, 6. Karl Wilkins (54'), 7. Kayde Sylvester (64'), 8. Tui Uru

Replacements

16. Callum Burns (61'), 17. Lewis Holsey (51'), 18. Corrie Barrett (68'), 19. Jordan Onojaife (54'), 20. Charles Rylands (64'), 21. Jake Garside (64'), 22. Louis Grimoldby (71'), 23. Ethan Grayson (25')

NOTTINGHAM

15. Jordan Olowofela (64'), 14. David Williams, 13. Marcus Ramage, 12. John Neville, 11. Ryan Olowofela (78'), 10. Morgan Bunting, 9. Liam Slatem (59'); 1. Dan Richardson (64'), 2. Harry Clayton (51'), 3. Will Hurd (64'), 4. Thomas Manz, 5. Iosefa Maloney (60'), 6. Scott Hall (55'), 7. Nathan Tweedy, 8. Josh Poullet (C)

Replacements:

16. Jack Dickinson (51'), 17. Toby Williams (64'), 18. Xavier Valentine (64'), 19. Lewis Chessum (60'), 20. Emeka Ilione (55'), 21. Michael Stronge (59'), 22. Sam Hollingsworth (64'), 23. Jacob Wright (78')