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On a pleasant sunny morning, at the Ath, a slightly dazed Bedford squad were surprised at the speed of the first two tries against them. Bedford started to rally with Seb Stenton-Hibbert making ground at the restart, and made his presence felt in the tackling stakes too. James White made a break after the first scrum to get the ball into Wymondham’s half but the visitors turned over the ball. Wymondham’s kick for territory was chased successfully by Bedford and they were close to averting a try but unfortunately the ball bounced in goal to end up back in Wymondham’s hands for another try which was subsequently converted. Tries 4 and 5 for Wymondham were again in quick succession and converted.

25 minutes into the game, Tom Evans scored Bedford’s first try as the ball was worked across the pitch from ground made by Charlie Mason. It was converted by lee tribe. The end of the first half was marred by a dangerous tackle on Jordan Clare and a Wymondham player was sin binned.

Half time score: 7:31

A stirring speech by the coaches and Bedford were keen to start the second half of the game. Jamie Fullen crossed the goal line just two minutes in; converted by Alex Lising-White. The forwards worked hard, James White made several forays assisted by Tom Gardener and Josh Petty. Bedford held the opposition on their goal line and after the 5m scrum Wymondham made a clearing kick which lead to their next try (no conversion). Bedford kept the ball in the visitor’s half over the next 10 minutes and to again end up camped on Wymondham’s 5 m line but with no success despite several spirited attempts. Bedford were pushed back up the field and their efforts were concluded when Wymondham’s no 12 ran down the wing to put the ball under the posts to score (converted).

Bedford mounted a counter attack with pace, Massimo D’aloia-Thompson and Tom Gardner pushed for metres, the ball was passed out to the wing and Josh Petty crossed line. Bedford’s third try was not converted. The competition for the ball was still fierce after the kick off. Bedford attempted to make ground with a kick and chase, despite a great tackle from Callum Farndale; Wymondham gathered the ball and ran it up the field for the final try and conversion of the day.

Final score: 19:52

Match Overview:
A number of players were trying out new positions today so it was great to see a determined performance against a credible strong opposition. Bedford didn’t give up and kept fighting even though the score went against them. The second half of the game was Bedford’s. Charlie Mason was released to Bedford A’s part way through the second half.


Bedford U15 Scores
Tries: Evans 25, Fullen 41, Petty 53
Conversions: Tribe 26, Lising-White 42
Penalties: none