Ladies Day returned to Goldington Road in aid of Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice as Bedford Blues gained back-to-back victories for the first time in 2024 with a belligerent win over Caldy on Saturday.
Dean Adamson’s double, taking him to joint-second in the Bedford Blues all-time try scoring list, alongside a huge shift from the Blues defence helped keep Mike Rayer’s side in the hunt for second place on a hugely enjoyable March afternoon.
After a punctuated opening with a couple of knock-ons apiece, Dean Adamson ignited the game with an excellent opening try on his 175th appearance in Blues colours.
The ball was worked out left, and Adamson – who had stepped in field – produced a now customary turn of foot to sprint through a gap in the visiting defence to dive over for the game’s first score.
Five minutes later, that lead was doubled after some fantastic offloads via Bedford hands found Joey Conway in front of the posts and with the prop bundling over, the Blues led 12-0.
It was a confident and dynamic start from Bedford; a fluency they have had trouble finding in opening periods this season and it had given them a lead to defend instead of chasing the game.
Caldy hit back as Matt Kilcourse darted through a tight gap and sat down Seán French on his way to a spectacular diving finish and with Lewis Barker slotting a neat conversion, the deficit was reduced to five points.
The third Blues try came on the half hour mark; Joel Matavesi spinning a tackle with ease and passing inside to Matt Worley who strolled in under the posts to increase the lead to 19-7 for the men in pink.
Moments later, the Caldy shove paid dividends as Matt Gallagher got the last touch to a driving maul to reduce the deficit to five points once again, much to the delight of the many vociferous travelling Merseysiders, with the score remaining 19-14 at the break.
Huge defence pays off
Caldy began the second half in the ascendancy and were close to taking the lead for the first time only for Nick Royle to fumble the final pass, and it was the Blues who scored next thanks to a Maisey penalty to increase the lead to 22-14.
Cameron King’s excellent break for the home side threatened to take the Blues further clear but he was brought down just short of the try line in what was the exception in forward forays as the game became increasingly scrappy.
The final quarter required some epic defence to keep the visitors at bay as Caldy looked to recover the eight point deficit, but the Blues couldn’t get out of their own half as the visitors continued to press with the clock ticking down.
A rare opportunity to eat into the Blues advantage sailed wide from the kicking tee for Caldy and with five minutes remaining, the chances to gain parity were running out.
The heroic Blues defence were rewarded on the brink of the final whistle as Mike Rayer’s side eventually gained possession and the ball found its way to Dean Adamson who raced clear to score his second try, and the vital bonus point to secure maximum points for the Blues.
It was Adamson’s 126th try in Blues colours, and propels him to joint-second in the all-time try scoring list at Goldington Road. It also sealed a monumental 27-14 victory for Bedford Blues, which will be remembered for an epic defensive effort in the second half as much as Adamson’s try scoring feats.
The fact that the last twenty minutes were played exclusively deep in Blues territory yet Caldy were unable to get on the second half scoreboard is testament to the defensive qualities on show for Bedford, and they were fully deserving of taking home maximum points.
Elsewhere, Doncaster and Cornish Pirates battled out a 27-27 draw and Coventry coasted past Hartpury 47-17 in Gloucestershire.
Ealing continued their path towards the title with a high-scoring 52-35 victory over London Scottish while Nottingham squeezed past Cambridge.
Those results leave Bedford Blues in fourth place, jumping ahead of Doncaster Knights but remaining five points behind second-placed Coventry, with a game in hand.
