Bedford Athletic recorded their biggest ever away win in league history to triumph 90-10 at Nuneaton.
Scoring 14 tries in total and conceding just two in return the result was never in doubt against last season’s relegated side from the league above.
Nuneaton were champions of Regional Two Midlands East in 2024, and in their first season in Midlands One they finished comfortably in mid table.
Last season they did not win a match and conceded an average of 65 points a game.
This has got worse this season as they lost their first game 71-10 at Oadby Wyggestonians.
The scoring for the Ath began in the third minute with a Josh Cassell try, which went unconverted, however fly half Beau Stenson was on the mark ten minutes later to convert the try of the other wing Freddie Wells and establish a 12-0 lead.
There was a brief flourish from Nuneaton when centre Harry Beverley scored a try on 16 minutes.
Fly half, Max Carter missed the conversion and then a penalty, as Nuneaton missed the chance to get themselves into the game.
Instead, it was a length of the field effort from captain Steve Smith that got the scoreboard ticking again on 21 minutes and four minutes later, a try credited to Erran Singh-Soomal and converted by Stenson secured the try bonus point, and a 24-5 lead.
Two further tries came the way of the away side before half time. The first was a first try in the first team for scrum half Zac Tester, and the second was Cassell’s second try of the day both of which Stenson converted.
Nuneaton did finish the half with a try from winger, Sam Migan but Carter once again missed the conversion with Bedford Athletic going into the break with a 38-10 half time lead.
Ath soar clear
The second half though was pretty much all one way traffic.
The scoring began in the 43rd minute with a try for prop forward Ryley Longmuir and in the 46th minute, Steve Smith bagged his second of the day.
Come the 48th minute, fly half Stenson also scored, which together with the conversions of all three meant that Bedford Athletic had pushed the lead out to 59-10 with half an hour still left to play.
Encouragingly, the side kept their composure and structure in the face of some very limited opposition.
Another two tries arrived before the hour mark; the first from replacement back Will Edmunds and the second from winger Freddie Wells; his second of the day.
Stenson remaining accurate with the boot to make the score 73-10.
It was only in the final quarter of the match that the scoring rate started to slow.
On 68 minutes, full back Josh Foster scored with Stenson unusually missing the conversion, Cassell completed his hat trick two minutes later, and fittingly the final try of the day went to fly half Stenson.
With his ten conversions, he took his personal tally to 30 points for the match; the fourth highest points total for the first XV in a competitive fixture.
The win moves the side to the top of a very early season Regional Two Midlands East table, but this has yet to settle down as sides continue to find their feet and form as the season gets underway.
Bedford Athletics’ next fixture is away to Stamford this Saturday (10 October) with a 3pm kick off.
Words by Jeremy Tyrrell
