Good end to 2011

Bedians lined up for their second home game in succession with a strong squad and buoyed with confidence from some improving form. With the away fixture being a close until injuries took their toll, Bedes were keen to make amends with a big performance.

After some early pressure, spending most of the first five minutes in the Northwich 22, Bedes thought they had their first try after a well worked maul left the mercurial hooker for the day Steve “Shit Steve” Tarling to drop over the line and let out a ‘ferocious’ war cry, only for a wily opponent to get a hand under the ball just before the referee had a chance to see it.

However, keeping the pressure on, it wasn’t long before they were over the line thanks to a trademark powerful drive from number 8 Alvin ‘ Rufio! Rufio! Furio!’ Chang, who took a few Northwich players over the line with him, none of whom could this time get their hands under the ball. Debutant fly-half Mark from Tring added the extras and Bedes were on the board. (Captain Steve Cook here making an edit, I’m pretty sure Joel scored this try with a salmon dive but then what do I know!)

This spell of early pressure seemed to spur Bedians on, and in contrast to previous games, when the foot has come off the gas having gone into the lead, Bedes were rampant. Northwich found the Bedes back row of Rufio, Eddie and Joel too much top cope with, and as the game opened up, half-backs Rhodri and Mark set about cutting the experienced Northwich backline open with some incisive breaks and slick hands, leading to further tries for Vince ‘Mince Pie Thighs’ Betty (uncharacteristically quiet after his 40 yard finish, though that may be because he was having trouble breathing), Paul ‘Pauly Mak’ Makinen and Mark before half time.

The second half followed a similar pattern, and although Northwich did manage to pull a converted try back, the energy of the Bedes pack and slick hands from the backs were too much. With the unusual luxury of a full bench, skipper Steve ‘Stevie Cook’ Cook rung the changes, the Antipodean pair of Campbell and Mike ‘Aussie Mike 2: Judgement Day’ Forgham entering the fray for Steve Tarling and Pies, and Pat ‘even chattier Pat’ Willis also coming into the forwards.

For the second week in a row, the impact was almost immediate, with Pat ‘even chattier Pat’ Willis beating Rhodri for pace and touching down a neat grubber, shortly followed by some tidy hands seeing Campbell swat away the tiring would-be tacklers like flies on the way to the line for the first of his brace of second half tries. Not to be outdone, from a scrum close to the line, Declan ‘Father Declan’ Sealy decided to get in on the act, discovering that despite his injuries, advancing years and constant threats of retirement he actually still does have the ability to move sideways, skipping through the Northwich defence under the posts. Shortly after this Captain Cook asked him if he was fine to play the whole game, "yes" came the reply from Declan at which point Cook immediatly substituted him from the fray to allow Pies back onto the pitch. That'll learn him for turning up at half time for the last 3 montsh!

However, once again it was to be Mikey ‘Aussie Mike 2: Lost in New York’ Forgham who provided both teams and all 4 spectators with the final open mouth moments of the game, firstly repeating his trick from last week and touching down under the posts after stepping round much of the Northwich backline. Sadly, this proved to be his final act as soon after, he showed everyone a rugby league style big hit. Unfortunately for Mikey though, he went a little high (face high) just as the Northwich ball carrier was ducking down, and the ref gave him his marching orders, sending him to spend the remaining 10 minutes behind the posts in the bin.

With the light fading, Northwich suffering a couple of injuries, and the result never in doubt the final whistle was blown a couple of minutes early. Another great performance from Bedes, who are finally starting to demonstrate what they are capable of with consistent team selection and a full bench to choose from! Credit must also be given to Northwich for their part in an entertaining game, and for never letting their heads drop and playing the game in a great spirit. Also apologies to the Northwich fly half who informed captain Stevie Cook that after reading the match report from the last game that he was not a “wily old vet” and was actually only 33. Must have had a tough paper round