Bedford Athletic eased past bottom club Wellingborough 43-15 in a Friday night game at Putnoe Woods on 27 March.
In a match that carried little relevance to either side, the home team laboured at times but still retained a superior edge to run out comfortable winners by seven tries to two.
The early running was made by Wellingborough as they dominated the home side at the breakdown, turned over several phases of possession and ran the length of the field to gain territory.
All of this culminated in a fortuitous hack on that set up a lineout deep in home territory, from which number eight Dan Sims crashed over to score.
Bedford Athletic responded within minutes when, from a midfield scrum, they exploited space that shouldn’t really have been there for winger Jack Darlow to cross for their opening try.
The match was quickly becoming punctuated by errors and penalties, but some direct running took the home side up to the try line, and fly half Leo Mortimer sniped over for a try on 16 minutes which he himself converted for the lead.
Familiar failings came back to haunt Bedford Athletic when, from the kick off, they tried to carry the ball out of defence, became isolated and conceded a penalty at the ruck.
Inside centre Josh McAndrew kicked this for Wellingborough to make the score 12-8.
On 22 minutes, Bedford Athletic produced their best move of the match when, from an attacking lineout, they quickly and accurately spread play across the pitch penetrating the visiting defence and with a deft series of passes and carries took the ball to the visitor’s try line.
Then shaping to reset the attack, scrum half Tom Orton dummied and dived over the line to score.
This accuracy was then replaced by white line fever for the rest of the half as Bedford Athletic created a number of chances, but everything was rushed and as a result, inaccurate with an unforced error a far likelier outcome than a score.
Jake Foster did get as far as being held up over the line, and when the goal line drop out was kicked straight to touch, the home forward pack tightened matters up and drove a maul over the line for the bonus point try on the stroke of half time, touched down by Ryley Longmuir.
Mortimer’s conversion made the score 24-8.
Sin bins puncture second half
The second half started with Bedford Athletic dropping the ball and then conceding a scrum penalty. They made amends by stealing the visitor’s lineout ball, blunting the attack and clearing their lines.
On returning to the Wellingborough 22, they repeated the dose from the end of the first half with another catch and drive from the lineout resulting in a try for Longmuir.
A match which contained a large number of penalties now started to see the result of that, as Wellingborough fly half Will Farrar was sin binned for a high tackle.
And when the visitors tried to run a penalty out of defence, they simply dropped the ball which was quickly snaffled by centre Louis Haley to run over for a try converted by Mortimer on 56 minutes.
For the next ten minutes the game was dominated by Wellingborough as the home side tried and failed through lack of accuracy and composure to exit their own half.
This indiscipline eventually brought a yellow card to Jake Foster on 65 minutes, and from the next phase of play, a try from Wellingborough replacement prop Will Anderson, as he crashed over from close to the line. McAndrew converted.
Matters turned quite serious when Jack Darlow followed Foster to the sin bin on 69 minutes.
Playing with 13 men, Bedford Athletic had to deliver a dominant defensive shift which they did largely thanks to a number of lineout steals, depriving Wellingborough of any attacking opportunities.
This effort paid off when the home side ended the game on the attack and Longmuir was able to cross for his hat-trick, which Haley converted to seal the win.
The result will leave Bedford Athletic in fourth place, qualified for the play offs but facing an away fixture.
Before that game takes place the league season draws to a conclusion with a match at Stamford in two weeks’ time.
Words by Jeremy Tyrrell
