Disappointment As Cup Holders Go Out With Second Half Surrender

Bedlinog is not proving to be a happy hunting ground for Beddau.

In this, the first defence of their Mid District Cup, Beddau gave youth its chance and for much of the first half it was paying off.

After a bright start there became a bit of defending to be done but with the efficient Bedlinog pack keeping the ball low and pulling players into a close range arm wrestle the referee, Mr Jason Morris raised his arm and the Foxes had scored in the corner. It went unconverted.

Tom Benjamin`s long range effort for Beddau was narrowly wide but Callum Wheeler struck twice to give Beddau a 6-5 lead.

Beddau dominated the proceedings and a couple of try-scoring opportunities had been frittered before a close range scrum resulted in a penalty try that Callum Wheeler converted.

Some further progress when a good Callum Wheeler kick initially pinned Bedlinog into a corner culminated in a try for Carl Lewis when the scrum half stole away behind a driving maul. Wheeler`s conversion failed but he was quickly on target with a penalty to give the Green and Gold a 21-5 lead at the interval.

Then the wheels came off. Beddau looked to have claimed a decent lineout but the scrambling Bedlinog pack stripped the ball and set up a drive that took the ball over the line for an unconverted try.

This was an eerie reminder of the earlier Championship fixture and if Beddau felt that fate was taking a hand some further reminders arrived when a tap and go penalty saw another try leaked. This one was converted and suddenly 21-5 had become 21-17 and the Foxes were now rampant.

The ship was briefly steadied but all Beddau could muster from a period of pressure was a Callum Wheeler penalty and when Tyler Wells was shown yellow for contesting a ball in the tackle area, Beddau, who had been the victim of several dubious offences felt that the fates were certainly now conspiring.

It was now Bedlinog calling the shots and the forwards manufactured a try which brought the scores to 22-24.

Two debatable penalties put the game beyond recall at 28-24 and much as Beddau will fulminate at the erratic nature of some refereeing calls it was the second half power that Bedlinog generated that was the real story. Beddau will have to go back to the drawing board.

Report by Lynn West