Bedford Away
By Corporalcarrot
October 6 2014
My third visit to Bedford and I followed my usual pattern of a 9am flight to Gatwick which connected with a direct train which was a bargain at £11.90 return and got me to Bedford before noon.
It was chucking it down with rain when I arrived but I was lucky enough to blag a lift in a taxi with Ed Dawson's brother and then walked through the team's hotel by the river to wish the lads well. There was a good crowd of Jersey supporters so a couple of us ambled the half mile or so down to the ground to get there for about 1.15pm. The passed the Cricketers which is sadly now closed and then crossed the road into GR and met up with Booj (I hope his folks hand on the pint bottle of Liberation Ale I had brought along), Charlie Clare & Gareth Aldred. A couple of beers were consumed in the Eagle Bar which has great bar staff and hospitable Blues fans:
The rain eased off and by kick-off time conditions were fair and by the second half blindingly sunny. I don't know who won the toss but Jersey kicked down the slope in the first half and Locke scored a quality try within a couple of minutes. How Bell could miss easy conversions but land the absolute monster penalty from 10 yards inside his own half I can't work out.
The game was incredibly close and both sides seemed to try their best not to win it. Three tries to each team overall and at least two more for each team totally butchered when it seemed easier to score than not so it was certainly not boring. Jersey's line out and driving maul was excellent apart from the very last effort which might have turned a 4-1 defeat into a 5-1 win. If Pierce Phillips doesn't get into the Championship select team against Canada there is no justice left in Rugby.
Two yellow cards hurt us but generally the wide defence which cost us dearly in recent matches was much better. Scrums are a major problem. We pack really low, the ball goes in straight and stays in the channel because we seem unable to bring the power in the back five of the scrum which is obvious in our driving mauls into play. Bedford played the ref in the scrums better than our lads and seemed to get away with an initial "hit and chase". Fair play to them if it works and the ref doesn't penalise them.
I had worked my way around towards the exit late in the second half and got this shot of Martin Garcia-Vega's try:
Overall I have no complaints at the result in that Blues probably just edged the match. I was a bit concerned by the aimless kicking which seemed to appear in the second half but Bedford were probably just as guilty of this in the first half. Great to see JB back on the field in the first team. He got pinged in the first scrum but was impeccable after that IMO.
A pre-booked taxi got me back to the station just in time to catch the 5.05pm train back to Gatwick with a member of the front row (still in playing kit) in tow and we met up with the Athletic lads at the Airport to catch the last flight back.
Bedford is an easy day trip (it would be even easier if Blues would agree to a 2.30pm kick off next year - Are you listening Gareth?) and the Blues fans are properly partisan and hospitable. If we stay up I'll be back next year.
There will be tougher games coming up but we really need to learn to convert tight games with losing bonus points into narrow wins. I'm staying positive as its obvious there is no shortage of effort by the players and coaches.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Glad you enjoyed your day, and thanks for bringing the Jersey weather for the second half.
It's @#$%& down today so you must've taken it back with you.
Hope you can make it next year IF YOU STAY UP!
