Outdone in the Sun

Old Bedians started brightly in their first away game of the campaign against recently relegated Birchfield, with two tries in the first ten minutes, the first by full back Liam Connolly, who was excellent throughout, and the second by winger Jonathan Swift who dummied two defenders to get to the line after an initial break by Connolly. Scrum half Ben Rogerson converted the second try to leave Bedians 12 points to the good.

However, Birchfield rallied, with a series of strong runs up the centre of the pitch gaining ground, before gaining a scrum on the Old Bedians line. While the Bedians pack was able to shunt the Birchfield scrum backwards, the home team retained the ball and created an overlap to score on the wing, duly converting the try for two more points. Birchfield next scored a long range penalty kick, before scoring another try after a quick tap. Ben Rogerson pulled one penalty back, leaving the game evenly poised at 18-15 at half time.

Bedians fought back strongly in the second half, with the pack dominant in the scrum throughout. However, they were not able to put any concerted pressure on the home side at the breakdown, and never able to string more than two or three phases of play together until the final minutes when the game was just beyond them. The talented Bedians back line did not get enough quality possession that could have yielded more tries. Back row Joe Eley led from the front, and returning prop Pete Wall can be proud of his effort in the scrum.

Birchfield are a strong side however, and will be tough for anyone to beat at home. Bedians were at least able to secure a losing bonus point which could be very important at the end of the season.