Bedford Blues legend, Dean Adamson celebrated his 200th appearance for the club in scoring five tries to equal the all-time try scoring record at Goldington Road as Mike Rayer’s side thrashed Nottingham 87-19 on Saturday (12 April).
The Blues scored 13 tries in all, with eight different try scorers, but the day belonged to Adamson who capped his 32nd birthday with a hatful of presents as the Blues returned to second place in the Championship.
Bedford Blues have experienced a stop-start resumption to the Championship after their five-week break, but they stamped their authority on this fixture in immediate fashion, securing the bonus point inside fifteen minutes.
It took just 77 seconds for Adamson to begin his stunning afternoon.
He ran in what was probably the simplest of his five tries from forty metres before Joe Howard doubled the lead with a more patient score with only seven minutes on the clock.
Howard was in the thick of the action again, as the Blues worked quickly off the lineout with a neat offload; finding the flanker to sail over his second of the afternoon, and when the joué came out to play shortly after, Adamson had joined him in a brace.
With the ever-dependable left boot of Will Maisey converting all four, the Blues led a shell-shocked Nottingham 28-0 after a quarter of an hour.
The tries kept coming; Lucas Titherington crashed over a fifth after 20 minutes while Oisin Heffernan showed his brute strength in carrying Bedford to their sixth try with a mere 25 minutes on the clock, and the scoreboard getting out of control for the visitors.
Nottingham did eventually get on the board with the thirty-minute mark looming thanks to James Cherry off the back of a rolling maul, but another try – this time for prop, Joey Conway – only served to take Bedford further clear.
When Dean Adamson secured a first-half hat-trick with half time approaching, there were suddenly whispers in the crowd that a try-scoring record that seemed a while away yet could be surpassed today.
It sealed a first half that dreams are made of – for Adamson and his teammates – and despite Nottingham gaining the final score of a pulsating first forty minutes, the Blues led 56-14 at the break.
The tries keep coming
Five minutes into the second period, the likelihood of Adamson breaking the record upped a couple of notches.
It took three minutes for the barrage to continue, as the winger scored his fourth of the afternoon to the chorus of rising decibels around Goldington Road and when he scored a fifth with 45 minutes on the clock, the anticipation was huge.
His teammates were also joining in; Alex Day scored the Blues’ 11th try of the afternoon before Sam Mercer scored a third try for Nottingham.
Luke Frost – followed by an 11th successful conversion from Maisey – took Bedford over the 80-point mark and with twenty minutes to go, there was a real possibility of the Blues bringing up a century of points.
A ten-minute period with no tries scored gave Nottingham some relief from a brutal afternoon, before Maisey added to his own impressive points tally by scoring Bedford’s final try to seal an incredible 87-19 victory.
It was an immense performance against a lacklustre Nottingham side who continue to slide down the Championship table after a good start saw them in amongst the top four before the turn of the year.
This win is Bedford Blues’ 11th of the season, and sees them return to second on points difference ahead of Coventry, who lost 31-26 at home to Ampthill.
Elsewhere, Ealing saw off London Scottish 41-24 to continue their pursuit of the title, whilst Hartpury remain fourth and in touch of second and third after beating Caldy 41-10 in Merseyside.
Doncaster Knights continued their resurgence with a 52-17 win at Cambridge, whilst Cornish Pirates squeezed past Chinnor 33-31.
However, this extraordinary victory leaves Bedford Blues in a very confident position as the division’s top two go head-to-head next week as Mike Rayer’s side travel to Ealing on Saturday 19 April.
