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REPORT | Blues battle past The British Army
Bedford Blues made a perfect start to Easter Bank Holiday Weekend thanks to a 48-19 victory over familiar friends, The British Army at Goldington Road.
As is always the case when these two sides square off, it was another intense battle and served a fantastic purpose for both sides - minutes in the legs for Bedford ahead of the Championship run in and important preparation for the Army ahead of the Babcock Trophy clash with the Navy at Twickenham in May.
Blues retained their proud record in this fixture by extending their winning sequence to nine, running in eight tries to thrill the hardy souls who turned up in attendance despite absolute monsoon season in the build up to the game with thunder and lightning forcing a later kick-off time.
Once the contest did get underway, it was 80 minutes of adrenaline fuelled action as both sides took the opportunity to experiment with some intricate plays and try things they otherwise wouldn't in competitive action - the ball may have been a bar of soap with the conditions but both sides still wanted to showcase traditional joue.
The Army struck first through Private Deucu but that was the only time they led in the game as Blues look a little while again to warm up, but built through the gears as the contest progressed.
Former Blue, Lieutenant Kelly and his compatriot Lieutenant Mitchell also dotted down for the Army as they bagged three tries on the night.
Blues' captain for the night, Pat Tapley added a fine score as his testimonial celebrations continued while Jac Arthur, Jordan Onojaife and Jamie Jack also dotted down before the break.
In the second half, there was more joue on display including an absolute cracker from Man of the Match, Ewan Baker who skipped four challenges from 60m out to run home to the delight of the crowd.
Alex Woolford was also pulling out the moves and he concluded the scoring with a fine swerve of the hips to deceive the final defender. A fien team move to put Matt Arden away and a Penalty Try complete the points.
Another fine friendly battle between the two sides and hopefully another contest will be arranged again next year.
*Matchday Photography by Claire Jones and Kie Fewster*
Bedford Blues Starting XV:
15. Ewan Baker, 14. Pat Tapley, 13. Matt Worley, 12. Jack Howells, 11. Jake Metcalfe, 10. Matthew Arden, 9. James Lennon; 1. Jamie Jack, 2. Tommy Herman (Olney RFC), 3. Oisin Heffernan, 4. Robin Williams, 5. Jordan Onojaife, 6. Jac Arthur, 7. Kieran Curran, 8. Joe Howard
Bedford Blues Replacements:
Isaac Bell, Joey Conway, Oisin Heffernan, Emeka Atuanya, Geordie Irvine, Alex Day, Will Maisey, Dean Adamson, Ryan Apps, Cameron King, Alex Woolford
