Bedians fall just short to Garstang

After the heavens had opened the week before, Bedians arrived at Garstang hoping that the better weather would aid the Bedian style of running rugby. However, the game started badly for the Didsbury men with a mix-up clearing from our own 22 leading to an early Garstang try. Bedians re-gathered and began to chase the game. The set piece performed well, with Bedes holding the scrum against a powerful Garstang side, and dominating the lineout with some particularly effective driving mauls. Late in the first half Bedians were finally able to build a period of sustained pressure. After previously being held up, fly half Robert Naughton scored in the corner from a well-timed cut out pass from Ben Rogerson.

The game continued to be tight and tense in the second half. Ben Owens scored an excellent second try for Bedians from sustained phase play involving the entire team that was followed by a deft pass from replacement centre Andrew Schofield.

However each time Bedians brought themselves back into the game Garstang responded well, meaning the men from Didsbury were never quite able to close the gap. Following the Bedians' dominance of the front and middle of the lineout in the first 50 minutes of the game, Garstang chose to consistently throw to the back, reducing pressure on themselves and allowing them to retain the ball.

As the 2nd half wore on Bedians began to gain more success in their carries, with both forwards and backs carrying well. Bedians 3rd try was created after some powerful carries; with Richard Thompson offloading superbly from a double tackle to put Ger Dempsey in, who was able to finish by reaching backwards above his head.

As Bedians pressed for the match winning try the Garstang number 10 iced the game with a well taken drop goal in the closing minutes. This left Bedians ruing the slow start with a final score of 25-19 to the home side.