Bedford Blues Women mounted a brilliant comeback in the second half of an historic fixture for Mark Stapley’s side on their first Saturday afternoon outing at Goldington Road, but lost out to a strong St Neots side.
After gaining promotion to Women’s NC2 Midlands Central last season in their first full competitive year in rugby, Bedford Blues have more than held their own in the division above and almost pulled off a stunning win this afternoon.
After fifteen minutes, the visitors looked well on their way to a victory to leapfrog the Blues into third in the table as Katy Davies dived over in the corner after Beth Robinson opened the scoring from the tee.
Five minutes later however, Martina Sharp got Bedford on the board and with Lucy Middleton securing the conversion via the crossbar, St Neots led 10-5.
St Neots build unassailable lead
From there, St Neots began to dominate as further tries from Libby Robinson and Tash Sice opened up a 20-point gap at the half-time interval, and a second try for Sice in the early stages of the second period extended that further.
At 32-7, St Neots could have ran away with it, but it was testament to the character of Bedford Blues to almost claim a brilliant win in the final throws as they battled back.
Natasha Taylor got the comeback started with a wonderful solo effort and was on the scoreboard again before the hour mark to close the gap to thirteen points.
Replacement Heidi Lawson got Bedford’s third try of the second half with a little under ten minutes to go at Goldington Road, and with the score at 26-34, the game looked to be heading to an exciting conclusion.
The Blues couldn’t find that extra try however as St Neots held on for a well-deserved victory in what was a superb display from both sides and a terrific advert for Women’s rugby at one of the country’s most iconic grounds.
Goldington Road a perfect venue for a great game
Peterborough Ladies and Milton Keynes Women have stormed this division, but this game was a fight for third in the division and ticked all the boxes in a see-saw game of rugby union.
The visitors deserved their half-time lead with clinical finishing in the first half; Tash Sice particularly impressive but set up by Taylor’s equally fantastic double, the Blues can take many positives from a characterful second-half comeback.
The Women have one remaining league game, against league leaders Peterborough on Saturday 2nd April, but Stapley and his side can look back on a solid season as they look to progress into 2023/2024.
