Bedford Athletic suffered their second painstakingly narrow defeat in as many weeks on Saturday afternoon as they succumbed to a 20-15 loss at Shelford in the Regional South East division.
The Ath were looking to bounce back after another narrow 20-17 defeat to Colchester last week, finding themselves towards the bottom of the league table.
Both teams scored four tries across the eighty minutes but it was the boot of Lewis Cracknell who made the difference for the hosts as they squeezed home despite a valiant effort from the Ath.
It was Bedford who opened the scoring on Saturday; Tom Allwright touching down with mere minutes on the clock and it could have been 10-0 early on, only for the Ath to squander an attacking line out.
However, Shingai Chiwanga hit back for Shelford before Jack Biard doubled the try count almost immediately; and with Cracknell nailing the conversions, Shelford led 14-5.
Leo Mortimer’s penalty for Bedford narrowed the gap before Shelford’s Louie Tang was lucky to only escape with a yellow card for a dangerous high tackle shortly before the interval.
Ath fail to capitalise on advantage
Going into the second half a man up, Bedford set about trying to find parity but squandered chances before Shelford were restored to a full fifteen.
It was soon Bedford’s turn to feel the wrath of the referee’s yellow card; Allwright sin-binned for not retreating although Shelford could only score a single penalty in the ten-minute period to extend their lead to 17-8.
Despite missing a key forward, Bedford continued to gain territory, spearheaded by Steve Smith and their efforts were rewarded with ten minutes to go as the ball was spread wide to Josh Cassell to score.
The game was anyone’s at 17-15, but Bedford indiscipline cost them in the end. Cracknell’s first two penalty attempts of the second half sailed wide, but it was third time lucky for the Shelford kicker who closed the game out with a late penalty.
Bedford’s second yellow card of the afternoon compounded misery as Jake Foster was binned, and they could not find their way back, losing 20-15.
Queens defeat Corby to remain unbeaten
Bedford Queens remain unbeaten at home with a 26-22 win against S&L Corby.
Tries from Tom Bailey and Ryley Longmuir were supplemented by the boot of man-of-the-match, Ben Radnor, made all the better with Queens down to 13 men for twenty minutes of the second half.
Queens now leapfrog S&L Corby into 4th of the Midlands East Counties Second Division, where Daventry lead after storming to four wins out of four.
Bedford Swifts opened their account in East Midlands 2A with a 17-10 loss at Leighton Buzzard but Sharnbrook and Colworth beat Old Northamptonians 33-12 in the same division.
