Bedford Blues extended their good recent record against near neighbours, Ampthill with a 40-24 victory in the inaugural Bedfordshire Cup as they wrapped up pre-season in conclusive style.
In a game of two halves, the Blues opened up a dominant 33-12 half-time lead which proved decisive ahead of a flat second period, in which Ampthill could not find a route back in as they fell to a fifth consecutive defeat to Bedford Blues.
Bedford Blues’ pre-season campaign has so far been a fruitful one, with victories over National One’s Blackheath and an always dangerous Cornish Pirates side coming before a narrow but competitive loss against Northampton Saints in the Mobbs Memorial game.
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These two sides have met 25 times since Boxing Day 2018, and while the Blues have had the upper hand in recent years, the Mob have more than held their own since their promotion to the second tier.
Ampthill are also under new management; Dave Ward has replaced Paul Turner after 11 years of stewardship, and with a host of new faces on the pitch, the visitors had an all new look about them as they came to try and cause an upset.
The first ten minutes was characterised by sturdy Ampthill defence, with a high tackle on Billy Pasco and a sin-binning for Joe Heslop for a deliberate knock-on the only blotches, as Bedford opened the scoring on the stroke of the ten-minute mark.
The resulting penalty from the deliberate knock-on found its way out to the right wing, where Ryan Hutler was on hand to acrobatically put the first points on the scoreboard.
The second try was not long in coming and started in excellent fashion by captain, Alex Day whose dummy pass allowed him to break clear.
Another high-looking tackle was waved away but the momentum was kept up by a rampaging Fred Tuilagi, and eventually a long spinner from Alex Woolford found Hutler on the right wing for another score.
Blues open up lead
It went from bad to worse for the visitors as Sam Kildunne was also sin-binned for an off the ball tackle on Michael Le Bourgeois, leaving Ampthill on 13 players, and Bedford took full advantage.
It needed just three phases for the third try; Tuilagi was held up inches before the line before Robbie Smith took over to bundle it over and – with the simple conversion – extend the score to 19-0.
Ampthill were looking to consolidate and to keep ball in the face of their numerical disadvantage, but as soon as Bedford regained possession, the spaces were gaping and the fourth try was scored by Day himself as the Blues opened up a considerable lead.
The restoration of a full compliment of players brought the first points for Ampthill; Tino Mapapalangi bundling over in the corner, although Josh Barton missed the tricky conversion to leave Ampthill 19 points behind.
It seemed to spark the attacking intent in Ampthill; Seva Kava broke clear and got within metres of the try line but Dave Ward and his staff didn’t have to wait long as Oscar Wilson darted through two poor tackles to dive over towards the Burrows.
Bedford had the last laugh of the half however, as they scored their fifth try in a move started by the dancing feet of Tom Price.
His break on halfway had Ampthill scrambling, and allowed the Blues to stack their left wing with Louis James the spare man to dive over, and when Price slotted the conversion perfectly between the sticks, Bedford led 33-12 at the break.
The second half started as the rain began to fall, and within three minutes, it was Ampthill who scored thanks to an excellent dart from former Scarlets scrum half, Efan Jones who proceeded to sprint away to touch down.
Otherwise, it was the beginning of a half punctuated by changes; familiar faces such as Will Maisey, Joey Conway and Tui Uru amongst a host of Bedford substitutions that also included James Pater at full back who faced a couple of big hits almost instantly.
Turgid second half ends with Blues triumph
Sustained Bedford pressure around the hour mark was thwarted, as the clock ticked down with no more troubling of the scoreboard; as both sides scrapped it out in midfield amidst a couple of incidents of what onlookers would call “handbags”.
As the clock ticked into the final ten minutes, the scoreboard still read 33-19 to the Blues and the substitutions continued to dominate proceedings, contributing to the break up of a second half that never gained momentum.
Any attacking interest was reserved for the final three minutes as Bedford began to pass the ball around with fluency, and they secured the cup victory with a sixth try, finished off by another replacement in Rafe Witheat.
Maisey’s conversion took Bedford to the 40-point mark, although Ampthill had the final say with a try from Rhys Thomas with the final play that sealed pre-season for both sides.
The final 40-24 scoreline was a fair reflection of a game that Bedford controlled for large parts, especially in a first half where defensive errors and sin bins put Ampthill on the back foot from the off.
These two will meet again in the early throws of English rugby’s largest ever second tier competition; on 25 October at Olney Field, as part of what is a tricky start to the new Champ Rugby campaign for Bedford Blues.
That season begins in a fortnight’s time back at Goldington Road as Mike Rayer’s men host reigning champions, Ealing Trailfinders on 4 October, while they also face Coventry and Hartpury before the Battle of Bedfordshire takes centre stage again.
