Bedians Beaten but Unbowed

Liverpool Veterinary 29 vs Old Bedians 15 (Gallagher, Gibbs tries; Naughton 1 conv 1 penalty)

Old Bedians made the trip across to Liverpool full of optimism despite the musical chairs of selection again being an issue. 35 players across the club being unavailable meant that captain Mike Gallagher could only bring a squad of 17 and that was to be a big issue as the match progressed.

The early exchanges of the game were fairly even with Rob Naughton unlucky not to open the scoring with a 45 metre penalty that hit the cross bar. Ten minutes in and, with Bedians forwards O’Rouke, Thompson and O’Shea pounding over the gain line, Bedians set up just inside the Vets half where the ball was released to the backs. Fly half Gallagher was able to step past his opposite number and race away to score with Naughton adding the extras. At this point Daniel Davis became the first injury of the afternoon having his head split open after, in his own words, ‘tried to tackle someone with his head’.

The next ten minutes were the Bedians best with the ball. Irwin controlled play well with the forwards who again rolled over their opponents. The Vets also showed their dangerous edge with the classy young flyhalf looking to send the ball wide at every occasion to make use of the Vets' youth and fitness.

With Bedes camped inside the opposition 22 a succession of strong charges with the big units of the pack rolling on and Kitching and Gore doing a fantastic job recycling the ball under very difficult conditions. The students were unwilling to roll away from the tackle area and were very competitive at the tackle going for turnovers leaving Bedian runners isolated in a sea of opposition. Despite the referee's unwillingness to penalise the students, he finally lost patience and awarded the men in blue a penalty for something that had happened all match. Despite their frustrations Bedians got their reward, strong running from James Gibb saw him drive over from close range and stretch the Bedians lead.

The Vets however, were not beaten and were able to claw one back with their 10 stepping back inside through a gaping hole to run under the posts. With Bedians again on the march from the kickoff, Number 8 Larry Thompson went down in an innocuous tackle where almost everyone heard a sickening audible crack. Early prognosis is that poor Larry has a broken leg with a medial and possible also cruciate tear. Incredibly Larry walked out of Liverpool A and E two hours later without being seen after a very poor misdiagnosis from Doctors Gallagher and O’Shea. We all wish Larry a speedy recovery. A disjointed Bedians conceded a try moments later with Vets again throwing the ball everywhere.

Right before half time the Bedians injury curse struck again, and the casualty ward had two new additions with prop Drew Richards opening up a gash you could park your car in after a head clash with Andy Schofield that left the young centre heavily concussed and unable to carry on. Play was stopped at this point for half time Bedians turning 3 points clear but with a man disadvantage for the rest of the game.

The second half saw changes with Gallagher joining the pack, Naughton moving to 10 and Daniel Davis taking up residence at 12 and it was all heart from an undermanned, and mixed up Bedian side. Nearly the whole of the second half was spent inside the Vets 22 with every attacking raid thwarted with Bedians conceding a penalty whilst in possession as the decisions by the ref becoming more and more surreal.

In one case hard charging Jack Newsome set off on one of his many powerful runs only to be penalised for running into his scrumhalf despite both being on opposite sides of the scrum. And despite winning every scrum with and against the feed Bedians were found guilty of wheeling the scrum as once again the Vets crumbled under the power of the Bedes pack. Bedians threw themselves into everything the whole half in an incredible effort and every player should be proud of their efforts.

Vets finally managed to get through and with four minutes left Bedians were down by 7 and had a lineout 5 metres out only for the referee to find another reason to blow up and award a penalty against the attacking side. During the final play of the game the Vets made their numerical advantage pay, and run in a final score against an exhausted side, blowing the scoreline out a little.

A big effort will be required in training this week and Bedes will look to go again, confident that with a little more luck with injuries and greater availability, the winning habit will quickly return.

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Old Bedians RUFC, Millgate Lane, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 5QX
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