Bedes 2nds vs Bedes 1sts & Crewe 3rds!

Old Bedians 2nds faced two sets of opposition on a miserably Saturday this week. After gathering in the club car park ready for a trip to Crewe, with the first team who were off to Pendle, the day got off to an auspicious start when 1st team skipper Steve Bannell quickly snaffled one of the 2’s props . So Captain Stevie Cook, after expecting to be travelling with subs, soon found himself left with a bare fifteen and a shortage of front row . The day only got better for the 2nds when the teams piled into the various cars ready for the off, without being totally confident who had the kits. Following increasingly desperate calls from Cookie to the rest of convoy we were left doing laps of the roundabout at the junction to join the M6 as it became clear that Bannell had grabbed not only our prop but the shirts, balls and water bottles! In proper Bedians style Cookie wasn’t interested in problems only solutions and a quick call to Crewe secured us a set of shirts and we were able to head to Crewe.

Suitably dressed in old Crewe and Nantwich kit Bedes proceeded to warm up with the one ball they had between them and injure Swede before most players had even left the changing rooms. Following a quick discussion with the ref uncontested scrums were agreed and the standard collection of new players and old stalwarts took the field to face Crewe and Nantwich 3rds

The game kicked off and started with a series of strong rucks from Bedes as they tried to make their mobility round the field count against a bigger opposition pack. Following a series of good rucks the ball was fed out to Harry at full back who skipped past a couple of tackles to finish in the corner, giving Bedes a 5 – 0 lead following the missed conversion. Bedes then fought hard and created a few breaks before Crewe hit back in the 20th minute through their big number 8 to level scores. The pressure continued following the try and despite some strong defence the same number 8 went over for a converted try, giving Crewe a 12 – 5 lead at half time.

The second half started in the same way as the first with some strong rucking from the forward with Andy ‘Baby Bede’ Schofield and Eddie particularly prominent in the loose and Andrew ‘Welshie’ Welsh and Pat Willis constantly disrupting the Crewe line out, giving a lot of possession to the backs with Bloor, Harry and Ritchie all chipping in with strong carries. Despite these efforts Crewe struck again in the 60th minute with an unconverted try in the left corner which was harshly awarded after debuntant John ‘Tommo’ Thompson held up the winger but the lack of a TMO left Crewe with the benefit of the doubt, Crewe leading 17-5.

After some rallying calls from James Kington, Bedes set up for the kick off determined to hit back with the next score and after a great kick off steal from Ritchie and excellent rucking support from Anthony ‘Catman’ Hargreaves Bedes were awarded a penalty inside Crewe’s 22. A quick tap from Pat Willis followed by a rather lucky long pass which fell into the arms of captain Cook, who realising that pace isn’t one of his virtues popped it out wide and succeeded in sending Jay over for an unconverted try. Lighting then struck twice as Jay went over for his second. Swede passed the kicking duties to Tommo as he was suffering the effects of a heavy tackle and he duly added the two points to make the score 17 – 17 and set up a grandstand finish. Unfortunately the strength of the respective benches began to tell Schofield was forced off after struggling on with a turned ankle for most of the 2nd half leaving Bedes with 14 men as Crewe sent on the fresh legs. After an epic period of defensive play, after which the referee actually said to both team “Now that was some great rugby!” Crewe got what proved to be the fatal score in the 70th minute with a converted try from. once again, a number 8 pick up off the back of a 5 meter scrum. Exploiting the 2 man Bedes back row to full effect. Insult was then added to injury as the Crewe scrum half who had proved to be an elusive runner all game went over for a converted try to leave the final score 31 – 17. A brave effort in the end from Bedes, who were not for the frist time this season undone in the final 10 minutes by a lack of numbers on the bench.

Cookies final words on the defeate were “After a shambles of a start to the day, every Bedians player on the pitch, albeit in a Crewe kit, did themselves proud. Despite some of the results this season this is not a team to be under estimated as Crewe will testify too and we will go on this season to get bigger and better results I have no doubt. I also understand that the 1st team lost despite having 4 sets of balls, water bottles and 2 kits, Imagine what would of happend if we had had even one water bottle, who knows... ”