Bedford Athletic were well beaten 41-12 at home by Shelford in Regional Two Midlands East on Saturday (17 October).
Having been 7-5 ahead at half time, the side were blown away by their visitors in the second half, conceding six tries to a solitary further score.
Bedford Athletic were the first team to get on the front foot, and early penalties gave them access to the Shelford 22.
When a five-metre line out led to a series of drives towards the visitors line, it was prop Ryley Longmuir who eventually crossed by the posts for the opening try on five minutes, converted by Beau Stenson.
Bedford Athletic remained the dominant force in the game with two further attacking lineouts in the visitors 22, neither of which led to scores, plus a string of penalties that kept the visitors under pressure.
This led to a sin-binning for back row, Luca Martinelli on 17 minutes.
With a man advantage, Bedford Athletic opted for several scrums from penalties in attacking positions, but again could not find a way over the visitors’ line.
The best chance came from a break from defence, led by winger Alex Edun, which carried play inside and then switched to the opposite wing, where Freddie Wells went close, being brought down just short of the line.
Shelford survived the man disadvantage and, restored to 15 men on the half hour mark, finally got their attacking game going.
A quick tap penalty saw them break through the home defence, and fly half Harvey Taylor kicked ahead for scrum half, Ned Westbrook to win the race to the line for his side’s opening score on 33 minutes.
Both sides pressed again before the break, but there was no further score as Bedford Athletic led 7-5 at half time.
Shelford dominate second half
The second half was a completely different affair, as Shelford started with an intensity and purpose that at first Bedford Athletic could not match and eventually could not live with.
The slide began when the team were penalised for holding on trying to run the ball out of defence.
Shelford kicked the penalty to the five-metre line, and then rumbled the drive over the line for a try to George Cracknell.
Bedford Athletic were then undone by a break from deep within his own half by centre Matt Reaney, and when he was brought down the visitors took a quick tap penalty.
With the momentum quickly carried on, it was George Cracknell who crossed for the third try on 49 minutes, with fly half Harvey Taylor converting.
Under pressure, the home side were now error and penalty prone in multiple areas, and Shelford were constantly breaking tackles and running into space.
A further penalty kicked into the 22 saw another series of forward drives result in the bonus point try to hooker Mike Dunnett on 55 minutes.
The referee was becoming increasingly impatient with the home side’s offending under pressure, and number eight, Ryszard Hill was sent to the sin bin on 58 minutes.
With a man advantage, Shelford then opened up the home defence for full back Theo Aubrey to race home from distance through several half hearted tackles for a try on 65 minutes, converted by Taylor.
The home side then stood and watched as Taylor threaded a ball behind the defence for winger Hamish Westbrook to run on to score another.
The rout was complete with another break from deep down the left wing on 76 minutes; the try going to winger Harry Chater.
The final score went to the home side as a cross field kick picked out winger Edun for a consolation try with a couple of minutes remaining to narrow the final score to 41-12.
A first defeat of the season for Bedford Athletic, albeit against the league favourites, contained some harsh lessons and they now have an opportunity to get the season back on track with a trip to winless Old Coventrians on Saturday (24 October).
Words by Jeremy Tyrrell
