Louis James scored a hat-trick of tries for Bedford Blues as they sealed their home season with another big points tally, eventually overpowering Chinnor 61-26 at Goldington Road on Saturday.
The game was finely poised at 19-19 at half-time, but six second half tries for Mike Rayer’s men helped the Blues race to a second place finish in the Championship for the first time since 2011/2012.
Led out by captain Alex Day on his 100th appearance, the Blues were denied a 2nd minute advantage as Louis James’ early try was disallowed, but it didn’t take long for the scoreboard to get troubled as Fred Tuilagi barrelled over at the bottom of a maul.
The early stages were all Bedford, and their second try came after 11 minutes with the ball worked out wide right and finished by Matt Worley; one of nine names to be playing his last game for Bedford Blues at Goldington Road.
Read: Bedford Blues announce nine summer departures from Goldington Road
Chinnor responded with their first foray forward; initially thanks to a break from Nick Smith but he was felled inches away from the try line with William Ryan on hand to crash over.
It didn’t take long for the Blues to re-instate their two-try lead; a pinpoint pass from Will Maisey found Dean Adamson on the left wing who poked it back inside to James to run in his first, and Bedford’s third of the afternoon.
Chinnor hit back as they eventually dragged a slow-moving maul over the Bedford try line with Robin Hardwick gaining the final touch, bringing the visitors back to within seven points.
When Scott Hall was sin-binned for cynically knocking the ball out of Alex Woolford’s hands, it provided Bedford with two golden opportunities to score the bonus point, but they fell by the wayside and Chinnor took full advantage.
They created an opportunity out of nothing; Smith again darting through a series of missed tackles in midfield before feeding Luke Carter, who flew straight through Worley and under the posts to level the scores.
The final act of the first half was a controversial one as Dean Adamson looked to have been tackled off the ball with the speedster surely collecting his own chip, but the officials thought otherwise, directing the sides to the changing rooms at 19-19.
Six second half scores as Bedford streak clear
Chinnor are the only side that Bedford Blues had not beaten this season; Nick Easter’s men triumphed over the Blues 18-5 before Christmas, and at 19-19 at the interval, they may have sensed a double.
It was not to be.
Their cause would not have been helped by captain, William Ryan who was sin-binned a mere 15 seconds into the second period for a high hit on Tuilagi, who was consequently substituted, allowing the Blues to set up camp in Chinnor territory.
It took two bites, but the Blues’ bonus point came on 47 minutes in ugly fashion as Joe Howard scraped the ball over the whitewash and with Maisey’s conversion, the Blues were back ahead.
But for all of their efforts up front and going forward, there was always an error waiting in the wings for the Blues, whose consistency in recent weeks was lacking for the majority on Saturday, before they were able to pull clear.
The visitors were also however, not without their mistakes and a knock-on by replacement, Max Clementson with his first touch of the game allowed the Blues to escape.
A cute kick from Day gave Adamson space to run in to, and with the bounce of the ball came another try in Blues colours for the winger, giving Bedford some breathing space at 33-19.
That lead was extended further when Nick Smith – who had had an impressive game for the visitors – made a mess of a kick from Maisey allowing Adamson to steal the ball and feed James for his second try, and Bedford’s sixth.
James the latest to score a hat-trick
Nathan Chamberlain earned Chinnor a deserved bonus point after collecting his own kick forward and running in under the posts but it was the Blues who would have the last laugh as part of a clinical second half attacking performance.
Louis James intercepted a cross-field kick to run in his hat-trick, and Bedford’s 50th try in their last six games, before James Lennon finished off an eighth to take the Blues past a half-century of points.
Alfie Garside raced clear for a ninth with the final play of the game to secure a 61-26 victory; a scoreline that perhaps suggests a dominance that was not there for three quarters of the game as Chinnor fell apart towards the end.
The win also confirmed Bedford Blues’ finest ever home season and second place in the Championship ahead of next weekend’s final league game at Caldy, in what has been Bedford’s most successful campaign in well over a decade.
Elsewhere, champions Ealing condemned Coventry to another defeat in a high-scoring encounter, while Doncaster Knights continued an impressive second half of their season with a 35-15 win over Cornish Pirates.
Ampthill also came out on the right side of an entertaining affair as they beat Cambridge 54-43 while London Scottish beat Caldy 31-13. Nottingham came from 26-0 down to beat Hartpury, 54-33 on Friday night.
Bedford Blues have one more clash this season, at Caldy next weekend (31 May), before preparations continue ahead of a longer campaign next season, but Rayer and company can enjoy what has been a successful season as they take second place.
