Bedford take their time to get up and running

By Paul Jacobs

Bedford ………….26pts

Tries: Adamson 3, 25; Herman 62, 68

Conversions: Maisey 2, 26, 63

Ampthill ………….. 6pts

Penalties: Barton 2, 32

Bedford wrestled back the ascendency in the battle of Bedfordshire with a bonus point victory at a jam-packed Goldington Road.

Locked at eight wins apiece in recent history, Mike Rayer’s side secured home bragging rights by edging what was a tough watch on the eye, condemning Ampthill to a third game in succession without scoring a try.

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.”

Match Action

Having not scored a single point in over three hours of rugby, Ampthill ensured they were on the board this time around inside 90 seconds thanks to an early penalty from their skipper, Josh Barton.

The visitors were much improved from their drubbings against Ealing and Bath in recent weeks and if they had any potency in the red zone, could have sent some nervy moments through the 3,845 in attendance.

But they were made to pay for their inability to get over the try line, with only another Barton penalty for their troubles as they huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow down the Bedford defence.

Bedford were far away from their usual silky selves but were able to find a different style to grind down their opponents – something they haven’t always had in their armoury in recent seasons.

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 rower Tommy Herman 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 and that’s exceptional. 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.”