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REPORT | Bonus point win on Derby Day
Bedford Blues wrestled back the ascendency in the Battle of Bedfordshire with a rousing 26-6 victory over Ampthill in-front of a packed Goldington Road.
In truth, both teams will reflect and admit that it wasn't the easiest on the eye in terms of an 80 minute rugby contest, but Blues did what they had to do in terms of securing the bonus point result.
Blues’ Assistant Coach, Jim Henry said: “It wasn’t the best game, but the result is the main thing for us. We didn’t get into any flow and that comes from our breakdown not being at the standard it should be.
“We got lucky in the first half with one moment that Ampthill should have finished. We were disappointed with our discipline in the first half but much more improved in the second half from that perspective.
“Ultimately, we got the result we wanted, but perhaps not the performance.”
After observing two drubbings for Ampthill in recent weeks, anyone expecting that to happen again on the hallowed turf of Goldington Road had another thing coming and the visitors were much the better side for large parts of the first half.
If they were able to take their opportunities, it could have been an entirely different game. Credit to Bedford's defence because it stood firm in front of wave after wave of Ampthill attack, but they were wasteful.
Mike Rayer's side struggled to imprint their style on the contest but found a way to grind down their opponents and ultimately get the job done.
Dean Adamson, fresh from becoming the Championship’s top try scorer three weeks ago, took his form into the cup competition with a brace to take him to 135 Bedford tries overall.
Front row forward Tommy Herman, who showed some great glimpses throughout the night, also crossed the line twice to put some pressure on Premiership duo, Bath and Bristol, at the top of their pool.
Man of the Match, George Smith added: “We didn’t allow them to score a try tonight and I think that’s exceptional from the boys. Great scramble defence and while we didn’t get our game on the pitch all that much, there were some positives to take from it.”
*Matchday Photography by Claire Jones and Simon Fraser*
