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Old Bedians tried to improve on last week’s encouraging display away at Tarleton, where they began to show how good a side they were when they played as a team. Indeed, captain Vince Betty admitted that his team once again played well, and he was proud of one to fifteen.

From the off, the Bede’s started well although it was that of Kirkby Lonsdale’s superiority around the ruck area that set the platform for there win. Paul Denton on the wing scored from a break by Bedians full back Jon ‘Swifty’ Swift who bust the Kirkby defence with a barnstorming run, and offloaded to Paul Denton who went over to score Bedians first points in three games. The conversion was missed, although with 5 points Bedians seemed hungry for more and showed great signs of a team performance.

The Bedians pack this week, held up very well again, up against a physically stronger unit. The Bedians backline, showed great attacking potential, especially Matt Cockman, who made some fine breaks through the Kirkby Lonsdale defence, like a knife through butter. Bedians have played well in the past two weeks, and will be high on confidence for the forthcoming fixture away to Heaton Moor and be hoping for a derby day victory to take kick start their season.

Bedians 15 - 27 Heaton Moor

Fortress Millgate line played host to the alternative Manchester derby on Saturday. The Bedians were looking for a big performance after a run of bad results and really fancied their chances against a Moor side suffering from indifferent form of late.

Club captain Ade Machoff led from the front with a crunching tackle on Moor's over sized prop from the kick off but unfortunately the rest of the side did not follow their leader's example. A very slow start from the Bedians saw them on the back foot as Moor's foreign legion grabbed a couple of quick tries and threatened to run riot. Impressive mauling play and deadly accurate kicking from the Heaton Moor 10 saw them race into a 14-0 lead, with some courageous defensive play from Lawrence Betty the only highlight for Bedians. Bede's finished the half on a high as hooker Pete Kerr picked out Stock in the middle of the line out creating a platform for a 50 yard drive from the home pack, culminating in a penalty just outside the Moor 22. Youthful fullback Robin Naughton ended the half by sending the ball sailing through the posts to get Bedians off the mark.

Despite the rousing improvement just before the break, Bedians started the 2nd half in the same vein as the 1st, making numerous unforced errors and failing to secure quality possession. Martin Coupe's enthusiasm in the tackle area created some spectacular turnovers but as the match progressed, he began to incur the wrath of the referee who had already sent number 8 John Jones for 10 minutes in the cooler. The referee began to stamp his authority on the match as things threatened to turn nasty, with penalty after penalty being awarded to both sides. At this point the game could have gone either way with Bedes playing catch up and Moor looking to close out the game. Unfortunately, it was the away side who bagged 3 quick tries in a 15 minute purple patch from which Bedians never fully recovered.

The final 20 minutes of the game was one way traffic with Bede's finally showing what they can do. Great interplay between the forwards and the backs led to Will Metcalfe ghosting in for a try under the posts with Naughton duly adding the extras. There was more to come from Bedians as Matt Chest linked up beautifully with John Tafton to send Andy Holden flying down the wing towards the Moor line before he was cynically taken out by the visitor's fullback. The referee had no choice but to award a penalty try. Bedians continued to press and came agonisingly close to a 3rd try in 5 minutes which would have taken them to within a converted try of an unlikely victory. Alas it was not to be for the Bedians who were left to count the cost of a poor first half. After the game, Machoff said "The lads didn't give 100% today, they didn't even give 50, we need to train hard this week and give it our all against Tarleton next week". Director of Rugby Nigel Williams and Head coach Ian Betts echoed Machoff's sentiments but were pleased with Bedian's strong finish to the game and called for the players to start from where they left off next week.

Old Bedians 3 – Birchfield 10

Missing several key personnel, Old Bedians took to the field against Birchfield with a young and exciting XV, shored up by experienced players in key positions. The proceedings took a strange turn when it was announced that the referee was on an exchange from Kenya and that he would be getting assessed as well. Not a good sign of things to come.

Old Bedians started strongly and attacked the visitors from the kick off. After vital rucking work by Pete Kerr and Ady Mac the ball was turned over in the middle of the field and the attacking wave began. After 10 minutes of sustained infringement from Birchfield, the visiting referee decided he had seen enough and gave a penalty in front of the sticks. Up stepped Old Bedian’s Full back Andy Holden and slotted the 3 points.

As the half progressed the larger and more experienced Birchfield pack started to sniff that the set piece could be the breaker of the game. This was communicated well to the Birchfield Fly Half who pinned Old Bedians’s back in their 22 at every possible opportunity. Eventually the pressure paid off and a catch and drive resulted in the Birchfield pack scoring a flop try, which was converted.

After several late and swinging arm tackles by the visitors, Old Bedian’s decided to take matters into their own hands and began the 2nd half with renewed vigour. On 50 minutes Old Bedians’s chased down an untidy line out and tackled the vociferous Birchfield scrum half. What ensued was nothing short of mind-blowing. In full view of the referee Birchfield decided to stamp on the Old Bedian captain most notably on his head. The referee saw the offence and gave a penalty, but refused to show his cards.

Several incisive runs into enemy territory saw Old Bedian’s come away with no points and further frustrated the home team. On a breakout from their own 22, Old Bedian’s number 12 Will Metcalfe, was adjudged to have deliberately elbowed the opposition 6 and was given his 10 minutes in the bin. Down to 14 men Old Bedian’s skipper demanded that the tempo was raised, and the 14 men on the pitch obliged with a huge gain of territory from their own try line all the way down to the opposition 22.

Birchfield threw the ball in and good work from Dave Meisel disrupted their take. Peter Kerr flew in to tackle a player from behind and was adjudged to have tackled a man without the ball. Yellow card number 2, down to 13 players.

Old Bedians’s had a mammoth task to contain the Birchfield 15 for the final 10 minutes, but to their credit the 13 on the field played a good disruptive game and niggled the ball from the opposition preventing them from finishing strongly.

At the final whistle Old Bedians’s captain Ade Mac said, “above all else the lads kept their heads up today against a strong Birchfield pack, and a referee who was very unsure of the rules. Several key areas in defence and open play went extremely well today, but we need to work harder in Training to capitalise on our sustained periods of possession. Blackpool away next week has become a must win fixture for the team and nothing less than a win will do.”

Old Bedians suffered a 'bad day at the office' and lost all three of their fixtures last weekend. Lacking sufficient forward firepower, the 1st XV suffered a 40-0 loss away to Burnley, with the home team using their dominance at the set piece as the foundation for their attack. Although there were notable individual performances from Skipper Vince Betty, flanker Dave Herbert and half backs James Pay and Nathan Afro'ed, Bedians struggled to work as a team and go forward.

At Millgate Lane, Bedians' 2nd XV produced a lacklustre performance against Macclesfield 4's, with poor tackling allowing the visitors to win 26-0.

The 3rd XV dominated their cup tie against Altrincham Kersal 4's but could not turn their possession into points, a late try sneaking it at 7-3 to the visitors.

Second team skipper Jim Bloor commented, 'It's been a bad day at the office for all our teams, it's seems some of us just didn't turn up on the day. We've got to work hard at training this week, especially on our tackling.'

Despite early dominance, Old Bedians failed to put away visitors Littleborough last Saturday, losing by 5-14. Skipper Ady McClenaghan scored in the second minute with a 30 metre dash down the right wing, after collecting the ball from a succession of quick passes between forwards and backs.

Over the next 20 minutes Bedians dominated in attack. Stand-off Lol Betty distributed wisely to set up incisive runs from John Jones and brother Vince Betty in the centre channel.

Although camped in Littleborough's 22, Bedians missed crucial scoring chances with several dynamic passages of play ending with the ball being knocked on or turned over. With regular kicker Rob Naughton out injured, two kickable penalties were sent wide of the posts.

Littleborough sensed an advantage and upped the tempo of their game. Using bullish runs from the pack, they worked their way up the pitch and after several phases scored in the left corner. They added a penalty before half time to make it 8-5 in their favour.

The second half proved more dogged. Littleborough defended their lead, using the wind advantage to kick and keep the ball deep in Bedians' half. After stern words at the interval from McClenaghan, the home team worked hard to put together some attacking phases, however these lacked the shape of their first half siege, and the pressure soon told with several unforced errors.

With both sides tiring, play became scrappy, particularly at the breakdown. Bedians fell foul of the referee, conceding a penalty in their 22. After a successful three-pointer, Littleborough rallied and pressurised Bedians' committed defence with some surging attacks from the centres, ending Bedians' hopes with a drop goal to close it at 14-5.

Bedians were overcome by a confident Kirkby Lonsdale side last Saturday. The Lancashire side put together a range of sweeping attacks across the pitch, claiming four tries in the process.

Bedians tackled well under the increasing pressure, although they struggled to mount a convincing response. When they lost lock Tom Stock to the sin bin for an infringement offence, Bedians were unable to cover all of Lonsdale's surging runners and at half time they trailed 15-0.

The second half was a different story, with both sides contesting confidently for the ball. Bedians defence held and they put together some more certain phases of attack, Stock leading the charge. After several injuries, Bedians were without subs and down to 14 men once more. The pressure told, and Lonsdale registered another two scores before the end.

With their league fixture postponed, Old Bedians took on an Orrell Anvils XV in a well-matched encounter at Millgate Lane. Both sides were keen to play an open, fast moving game, and through some deft handling in the backs, Orrell scored an early try to take the lead.

Bedians had the edge in the tight and responded by winning successive scrums and lineouts, until they were awarded a penalty in the opposition 22. Bedians assuredly kicked out for the lineout, which they then lost through a handling error. Orrell took the advantage and, after several quickly recycled phases, scored again to make it 12-0.

Bedians rallied from the kick-off. Despite turning over the ball and some assured phases of play, the home team struggled to find a scoring move. Through determined defending Bedians were rewarded with two kickable penalties which took the score to 12-6 at half time.

After the break, it was anyone's game, with both sides doggedly scrapping for possession. While their attack faltered, Bedians' defence was forceful, knocking Orrell back through several phases in turn. The visitors were repeatedly turned over, although handling errors prevented Bedians from putting together a successful set of attacking plays.

A loose ball from the scrum allowed an Orrell flanker to score an opportunist try which sealed the game.

Eccles better Bedians

Old Bedians' failure to gain points from early pressure proved costly in their loss at Eccles last Saturday. The Salford side secured the win with two penalty kicks in the final quarter to win 24-13.

Bedians began aggressively from the kick-off with flanker Dave Herbert leading the charge. Eccles' clearance was disrupted, yet despite winning several line-outs in the home 22, Bedians could not conjure up something for the scoreboard.

Soon it was an Eccles scrum on the half way, and repeated surges of forward runners were able to find gaps in the Bedians line. As Eccles' momentum built, the ball was shipped through the three quarter's hands to the winger who scored in the corner.

Again Bedians applied the pressure at kick-off and found themselves entrenched in the opposition's half, having turned over the ball once more. Seeing a scoring opportunity, scrum half James Pay began a rapid counter-attack with several runners making great inroads through the Eccles defence. The try came from Vince Betty's colossal drive for the line; the center grounded the ball in spite of the three home players hanging on to his thighs.

With Eccles scoring again before the break, Bedians spent the second half trying to play catch-up rugby. It was not to be. Play was stopped in the second half when replacement Rob Oliver suffered a dislocated shoulder and the lengthy break sapped any rhythm from the game.

Frustrated by increasingly violent and unreprimanded infringements by the Eccles pack, Bedians' attack faltered and they never found the points to keep the win in sight. Despite a hardy defensive effort, fatigue eventually told- mostly on the referee- and Bedians conceeded the penalties that clinched it for Eccles.

Old Bedians welcome Heaton Moor to Millgate Lane next week as they continue their North Lancs One League campaign.

SKILLFUL SECOND WIN

Old Bedians 27 - Colne & Nelson 19

Old Bedians recorded their second league win from two matches with a display of skillful running rugby. Fly-half Lawrence Betty orchestrated Bedians' precise and dynamic play to overcome Colne & Nelson in the North Lancs 1 league.

Scoring began early, with Betty capitalising on several successful phases of forward play by throwing a deft wide pass which saw centre Will Matcalfe cruise through a lacklustre Colne defence. Young ace Rob Naughton hit home the conversion.

Despite a late Colne rally, it was Bedians grit and determination, particularly at the set piece, which saw them through the match. Nowhere was this more evident than captain Martin Coupe's thundering charge throguh numerous Colne defenders to score yet another try. Bedians Director of Rugby Nigel Williams commented, "Martin's try was like something from Gladiator. By then we just knew they couldn't win."

Old Bedians travel to Eccles this week looking to continue their unbeaten league record.

Match Reports - First Team