Bedford Blues celebrated Mike Rayer’s 500th game in charge by romping home at London Scottish in their final league game of the season.
The Blues ran in ten tries overall after a stunning second half display saw them score 45 unopposed points; securing fifth place in the Championship table as they did so.
Read: 500 up for Mike Rayer as Blues league campaign ends in the capital
The game was a story of two halves, as the hosts – who have only won one game all season – led 21-17 at the half-time break thanks to a topsy turvy affair.
Scottish took the lead inside five minutes through Cam Anderson but the Blues hit back immediately thanks to a first try for Ealing loanee, James Little who caused problems for the opposition all afternoon.
Brian Tuilagi restored the London Scottish lead soon after as the game promised to be a high-scoring affair before Dean Adamson opened up his account for the day with a try of his own.
Not to be perturbed, Scottish came back fighting once more; Morgan Dawes diving over the ruck to touch down to give his side an invaluable lead at the break.
Rayer’s trademark attacking rugby comes good
However, the second half was a completely different story as Bedford Blues came out of the blocks all guns blazing, and London Scottish simply couldn’t cope.
Oli Stedman was the next name on the try list with a smart move from the scrum before Matt Worley and man-of-the-match, Jamie Elliott dived over to gain Bedford’s bonus point.
To their credit, London Scottish did keep coming but Bedford’s experience and guile was enough to pick them off; Dean Adamson coming to the fore to increase his impressive try count.
His chip and chase rewarded him with a second try of the afternoon before Josh Pieterse scored his second try of the season to bring up the half-century for the Blues.
Adamson’s hat-trick was soon followed by his fourth of the day, taking the prolific winger to 98 Blues tries; with his eyes on the century mark before the season is out.
The final 62-21 scoreline was the perfect present for Mike Rayer on a major milestone for the Welshman but all focus now turns to Nottingham and a season-closing Championship Cup campaign.
The stand-in captain, Joe Atkinson, who made his 50th appearance for the Blues was complimentary about Bedford’s second half performance:
“We just had to keep the ball and play our Bedford DNA, and we went on to put 40-odd points on in the second half so huge credit to the boys for turning it around.
“Hitting fifty games is a great milestone and doing it for a great club like Bedford is special.”
The Blues are guaranteed fifth place in the league standings as Hartpury fell 31-24 at title-chasing Cornish Pirates, while Jersey Reds despatched Coventry 66-38.
However, with the Championship Cup campaign three weeks away, the Blues will have some time off as the league completes before taking on Nottingham at Lady Bay on Friday 8th April.
