Old Bedians 7 - 16 Trafford MV

Old Bedians 7 Trafford MV 19

Old Bedians continued their recent improved form but couldn’t manage to turn this into a victory against the high-flying Trafford side that deserved their narrow victory. In wet and windy conditions at Millgate Lane the opening 30 minutes saw both territory and possession being very even. Both defences held firm against the questions being asked by their opponents attacks, Chris Hetherington, Oliver Keck and Vince Betty very much to the fore for the home side. The only points of this period came from the boot of Trafford MV’s impressive goal kicker who converted all three of the penalties that were awarded within his range, all the result of Bedians ‘competitiveness’ at the breakdown. The final 10 minutes of the half saw the away side in the ascendancy and, after a period of pressure was repelled by the excellent Bedians defence, they finally crossed for their only try, the result of a ten metre driving maul. The try was converted and left the half-time score at 16-0 to Trafford.
Old Bedians started the second half doggedly and withstood everything Trafford could throw at them for much of the opening 10 minutes. This was an example of the spirit shown by Bedes in recent weeks, the honesty and commitment in defence was superb in the face of what was the best attacking team they had played against this season. Testament to this defence was Trafford’s decision to go for goal from a penalty on the home side’s 22 metre line, this was missed and also marked the end of Trafford’s dominance of possession. For the remaining 20 minutes the games was very even and after a series of penalties and attacking scrums, Old Bedians got the try they richly deserved. A perfectly executed looping pass from centre Rick Snape found the home side’s man of the match Oli Keck who waltzed over the try line under the posts. The try was converted by replacement Jonathan Swift, leaving the score at 7-16. For the remainder of the game Old Bedians pushed for a further score but Trafford’s defence held until the final whistle.
If Bedians can repeat this defensive effort and improve their set-pieces and cut out the couple of poor decisions made when in possession then they will surely soon get the victories required to pull them out of relegation danger.