Dean Adamson is now officially Bedford Blues’ leading all-time try scorer, scoring one of nine tries as part of a 61-38 victory against London Scottish at a raucous Goldington Road on Saturday afternoon.
The intriguing sub-plot to an excellent Blues season culminated on the hallowed turf of Goldington Road as Adamson produced a customary dive into the corner to score the Blues’ sixth try of the afternoon in another scintillating attacking performance from Mike Rayer’s men.
The last time the Blues played at Goldington Road, they ran in 13 tries against a beleaguered Nottingham side, and they picked up where they left off with the game’s first score after just three minutes.
The driving maul from the lineout fell apart, but Fred Tuilagi was on hand to snap up the opportunity and take over to bundle across the whitewash with Maisey’s left boot converting to give the Blues an early 7-0 lead.
Three minutes later, that lead was doubled.
Fast hands through the back line found Adamson in an unfamiliar position in the right channel, and despite a tap tackle, the winger was able to find his counterpart, Alfie Garside who proceeded to run in under the posts for the first of an eventual hat-trick.
By the quarter of an hour mark, the Blues were well in the ascendency thanks to Garside’s second try; beginning with excellent work on the floor by a foraging pack intent on gaining every ball, which eventually worked its way out wide.
Again, Adamson was lurking on the right wing, but Garside merely dummied a pass to him and stepped inside to stroll in his brace.
The visitors were on the board after 21 minutes as Austin Wallis’ lineout and consequential shove was completed by the Scottish hooker and they repeated the trick a few minutes later, as Wallis got his second via the same method.
Normal service was resumed on the half hour mark; the bonus point try secured in simple fashion by Michael Le Bourgeois, with Will Maisey scoring a fifth as the Blues stamped their authority on the encounter with a 35-10 lead at the interval.
A golden moment for Deano
The opening moments of the second half were scrappy at best, as Dan Nutton reduced the Bedford lead with an early try despite murmurs of a knock-on but it wasn’t long before the crowd erupted at the long-awaited moment.
Fred Tuilagi intercepted a pass in midfield and although his spin out right was wayward, it wasn’t long before the ball made its way out to the opposite wing, where there was just one man waiting.
Again, it was fast ball that worked wonders and it made its way through the hands to find Adamson who sprinted down the left wing to dive in his 146th try for Bedford Blues, officially breaking Derek Wyatt’s all-time record.
It was a roar unlike few others around Goldington Road as Adamson – who also became a Dad in the week – soaked up the applause in a moment that has felt like a long time coming.
It was almost as if the rest of the team had been distracted by the moment, as Scottish hit back immediately from the kick off, taking advantage of a Maisey mistake on his own try line to keep the visitors in the game.
However, for all of their attacking endeavours, the Scottish defence was proving far too leaky as Garside completed his hat-trick by sprinting through the chasm that appeared to extend the lead to 47-24, with Maisey’s conversion accurate again.
The action continued at breakneck speed; Garside looked as if he was galloping clear to feed Adamson another, but chose the inside route instead where the ball fell to Robbie McCallum, only for Le Bourgeois to illegally stop him in his tracks to see yellow.
McCallum got his own back with a try from the visitors’ next foray forward to keep his team in touch, but again the Blues struck next to soar past the 50-point mark as Tommy Herman bundled over Bedford’s eighth.
When Matt Worley collected an Adamson grubber kick for the ninth after 73 minutes, it secured a thoroughly entertaining afternoon of rugby although London Scottish had the last laugh courtesy of a try for replacement, Stephen Kerins.
99 points had been scored in what was a classic Goldington Road affair, but Bedford Blues were once again at their attacking best in scoring 61 of them as they maintained second place in the Championship.
Ealing took a further step towards the title as they demolished Cambridge 89-19 away from home, while Hartpury remain close on Bedford’s heels in third after seeing off Ampthill 38-14.
Fourth-placed Coventry fell further back, losing 21-14 to Cornish Pirates who are now just two points behind them in fifth. Doncaster Knights beat Caldy 33-15 in Saturday’s other Championship fixture, while Chinnor beat Nottingham on Friday night.
The day however belongs to one man as Dean Adamson wrote himself into Bedford Blues folklore with the try that secures his status as a legend of Goldington Road.
His 146th try for the club surely won’t be his last.
Bedford Blues travel to Ampthill in the Battle of Bedfordshire next Saturday (10 May) before another trip away from home to Cambridge, where the Men and the Women play on the same day in another double header at Ellgia Fields.
