Bedford Blues followed up last week’s superb victory in the south west with a clinical display this afternoon against Caldy to stay third in the English Championship.
Caldy secured promotion to the Championship for the first time when they beat Sale 13-9 last April to win National League One and have been a handy addition to the division, with one victory so far against Richmond.
However, Bedford’s attacking prowess proved to be too much as Mike Rayer’s side secured a third straight win in an impressive start to their league season.
Read: Ladies Day returns to Goldington Road for historic Caldy clash
There were only two minutes on the clock when the Blues – playing in their charity pink kit – opened the scoring; Dean Adamson opening his account for the afternoon as Bedford strolled through an open Caldy defence.
The visitors hit back almost immediately with a try of their own through Adam Aigbokhae but with another Bedford attack, came another Caldy gap that Ethan Grayson walked straight through before feeding Pat Tapley for the score.
Blues too strong
Back came Caldy, and a series of penalties led to a sin-binning for Huw Taylor but the visitors couldn’t capitalise, and it was the Blues who increased their lead.
Great work from Tui Uru at the breakdown gifted Bedford the ball on half way and the impressive Grayson spotted a large space to kick in to, with Adamson sprinting on to it to touch down.
By now, Bedford were camped deep in Caldy territory, and the bonus point was secured before the half hour mark with Huw Taylor reaching over for Bedford’s fourth try momentarily after returning from the sin bin.
A yellow card for Aigbokhae compounded Caldy’s first half misery and from the resulting penalty, Ethan Grayson scored the simplest of tries to reward an impressive opening forty minutes for the centre.
Jake Garside added to the try count moments later courtesy of an exceptional breakaway from George Hendy – despite suspicions of a forward pass earlier in the piece – but the score merely confirmed Bedford’s dominance in the opening period.
A late yellow card for an unlucky Ed Prowse was the final act of a first half dominated by the Blues; their attacking play too fast and too dynamic for the team from Merseyside to handle as they went into the interval 38-5 up.
Caldy secure bonus point in losing cause
The carnage continued from the off in the second half; Garside adding his second try of the afternoon within two minutes and a fourth yellow card of the game followed as Ryan Higginson was binned for a deliberate knock-on for the visitors.
A rare blemish in the attacking flair of Bedford gifted Caldy the opportunity for their second try of the afternoon in a period of chaotic rugby soon after; a Maisey pass finding a black shirt with Ollie Hearn finishing off out wide.
The fifty-point mark was brought up for the hosts in less glamour than the seven previous Bedford tries, replacement Alex Day bundling over the try line as the Blues rang the replacements.
The action kept up at pace; a third try for Caldy came about on the hour mark via bizarre circumstances.
As the ball was thrown in from the lineout, a second ball was flung on from the sidelines and flummoxed the Bedford defence; a moment that would have been less amusing had the scoreline been closer.
A fifth sin bin of the game occurred thanks to a late tackle from Caldy substitute Elliot Gourlay but to their credit, the visitors kept going in search of a bonus point try which eventually came thanks to Martin Gerrard.
Their fifth try came moments later as Nick Royle found himself alone on the right wing, a deserving late spurt from the league new boys despite the final 52-29 scoreline.
The Blues perhaps suffered in the final ten minutes but only thanks to a wonderfully adventurous previous seventy, with moments of attacking flow that has become synonymous with rugby at Goldington Road.
Ethan Grayson was particularly impressive in the first half, opening up many opportunities for his teammates as well as scoring a deserved try, as was Jacob Fields on his 100th Blues appearance.
Bedford travel to Doncaster Knights next Saturday with the Yorkshire side looking to bounce back from a 30-15 defeat at Nottingham yesterday evening.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Jersey Reds maintained their 100% record as they saw off Cornish Pirates 21-10 on Friday evening, while Ealing are also unbeaten as they saw off Coventry 50-5.
Ampthill gained their first win of the season as they thrashed London Scottish 59-7 while Richmond narrowly beat Hartpury 19-15.
