Bedford Athletic secured a comprehensive 42-17 win away to near neighbours Letchworth on Saturday to move up to fifth in the Regional One South East division.
They ultimately had an intensity their hosts couldn’t match as the visitors stormed into a 29-3 half time lead.
The early stages were contested in Letchworth’s half with captain Nick Thomas making the first break of the day which led to a penalty that Leo Mortimer kicked on 4 minutes.
Bedford Athletic maintained the pressure, forcing their hosts to play from deep and when Andy Ince charged the ball down, they immediately got on the front foot with a penalty under the posts quickly taken by scrum half Michael Trigg who dived over for the try.
Letchworth responded with a penalty of their own kicked by fly half Josh Sharp but Bedford Athletic were not deterred, Mortimer missing a further penalty soon after.
Although possession was mainly with the home side a very strong defensive effort from the visitors kept them trapped in their own half with the Ath forwards Ince, Jake Foster and Nick Thomas leading the charge to drive Letchworth backwards and eventually force mistakes.
When the turnovers came, the visitors had the backs to take advantage of them and it was full back Oli Petrides that started the move for the second try; switching play across the pitch to find Harry Sawford-Smith in space and he broke through and ran past several tackles on his way to the second try.
Felix Mallalieu – returning to the side at inside centre following a year away – fielded the restart and broke behind the home defence. Petrides carried play on down the left wing and cleverly waited for support to ensure another scoring pass for Sawford-Smith.
As Letchworth visibly wilted in the heat, it was Andy Ince who then broke through a tackle and outpaced the home full
back to the line for the bonus point try, Mortimer converting for the 29-3 half time lead.
Ath red card doesn’t stop the charge
A lapse in concentration by the visitors at the start of the second half gifted Letchworth field position and from there they pummelled the visiting defence with Jack Askham eventually scoring the try.
Bedford Athletic responded in kind. From a midfield scrum a set play from the backs sliced open the home defence with winger Stephen Woodhead joining the line late and setting Mallalieu free for a score under the posts.
Mortimer converted in the 46th minute and soon after added a penalty to push the side 5 tries clear at 39-10 in the 53rd minute.
Matters could have got significantly worse for the visitors when Woodhead was red carded for a high tackle four minutes later.
They had time to consolidate their lead with another Mortimer penalty before Letchworth did indeed make the
extra man count; a series of pick and goes close to the Bedford Athletic line eventually resulting in a try for scrum half Harvey Howman.
But Sharp’s conversion was to be as close as they got as Bedford Athletic settled into a resilient defensive pattern and continued to frustrate any momentum for the home side.
This was best demonstrated by a fantastic 50:22 kick from man of the match Mallalieu that allowed Bedford Athletic to launch a series of final attacks with Jake Foster desperate to but not quite managing to get over the line for a try on
his 100th appearance.
Bedford Athletic will look to take the momentum and confidence from this much improved performance into another local derby this Saturday at home to Old Northamptonians
The second XV will start their historic first season in the RFU leagues at home to Newmarket also with a 3pm kick off.
Words by Jeremy Tyrrell
