Tight finish at Millgate Lane

With Carrington and Old Bedians both in the top five of the league this promised to be a tight tense encounter. The previous match away at Carrington was a tight 17-12 loss and all members who were there knew a tough game was ahead. A young and mobile pack coupled with an exciting backline lead to optimism prior to kick off.

As is so often the case with Old Bedians, we did not start the strongest. A few missed tackles and we were soon under the posts and 7-0 down. From the restart the intensity which we had discussed prior to kick off was there; forwards were running hard and some intelligent kicking kept us in the Carrington half. Our only issue was a slightly scrappy set piece however in open play we looked solid and strong. Before long our experienced overseas pro, Campbell, showed why we pay him the big bucks (disclaimer: he gets nothing) crashing over with three Carrington forwards hanging off him for the first Bedian points of the game.

A missed conversion meant that with twenty minutes gone we were loosing 7-5 and so it remained for a very long time. Our set piece started to come together. The scrum stabilising and the lineout becoming more dominant with Chazz Oxlade jumping admirably from the front of the line disrupting Carrington ball. Our defence was admirable, Carrington were camped on our line for ten or twenty minutes and were continually repulsed with every squad member putting their body on the line.

In attack we looked good but were just missing the finishing touch with a couple of knock-ons damaging our prospects. With ten minutes to go we were camped in the Carrington 22 having spent the last ten minutes there. However we couldn't break through, Carrington then came back at us, intelligently kicking, collecting and running through. Scramble defence brought the man down inches from the line. Bedians regathered and for five minutes kept out Carrington however they eventually broke through. There was still time on the clock however it was not be.

Carrington won a tight and tense game with only two points between the two teams for the majority of the game. Everyone who pulled on blue can be proud of the attitude and intensity shown throughout that game. Well played Bedians.