14 Try Salvo Sees Bedworth Run Riot

Bedworth started their 17/18 league campaign in style yesterday with a crushing 92-7 victory against Birmingham Civil Service, during the 80 minutes the home side ran in a total of 14 try's with 12 of them being converted.

The travelling side from Birmingham came in good spirits & good form after coming away with a 52-19 victory from their opening game 2 weeks ago, with this in mind the Bedworth team prepared well both on & off the field in the run up.

The weather couldn't have been better for the first competitive game at new home Nicholas Chamberlaine, which no doubt played it part in attracting a large home crowd, who in turn were treated to a try fest from the boys in green.

The opening 10 minutes of the game were a cagey event with neither team stamping their mark on the game with handling errors & penalties interrupting the flow of the game. This stopped when the host got off the mark with the first try of the season, after some good line breaks and follow up carries Steve Harwood found himself the beneficiary of having the ball in hand & white wash at his mercy to touch down - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The tries carried on flowing in the first half with Ieuan Lewis next to cross after bursting through a hole and evading his tackler he marauded towards the line full of intent to score a lovely try - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The returning Steve Bates then got amongst the act when some lovely interplay by the backs opened up holes on the defensive line, the ball found its way into Greg Taylor's hands who drew his man and put Bates in for a well worked try - Connor Johnson adding the conversion

The forwards got back into the try's when Jakob Frost bulldozed his way over the line from short distance, even with 2 defending players hanging off they couldn't stop Frost with his strength & pace - Connor Johnson adding the conversion

Whilst the bonus point for 4 try's was secured in a short space of time the travelling side did have a 5 minute spell where they were camped in the hosts 22. The result of this was a penalty try when a Bedworth player was adjudged to have tackled high on the try line.

The home side instantaneously hit back when Anthony Anderson picked the kick off out of the sky, sidestepped two onrushing defenders and set off up the field, whilst he was eventually hauled down quick ball released Harwood who fed the Greg Taylor who drew his man to put Adi Iliff in at the corner - conversion missed

The host again took the game to their opponents from the off when Ieuan Lewis caught the restart and plundered through them towards the line, he was supported by Lee Bennet who in turn offloaded to Steve Harwood for his second of the afternoon - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

Ieuan Lewis added to his earlier score to collect a brace of try's after intercepting a pass which left him with space & time to skip past the last man to score a fine individual try - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The final try of the half was scored by Sam Taylor who outmuscled his opposite number & left the last man standing with his pace to touch down - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The second half started in same fashion as the first with an edge of caution, handling errors & penalties stopping the home side, this was once again settled when Bedworth scored - Steve Hunter finding himself at the bottom of the pile after a hard driving maul pushed the travelling team back over there try line - conversion missed.

Greg Taylor then got into the act when he was given the ball in the midfield, spotting the space he darting for the outside & burnt off the covering tacklers to touch down - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The try's continued to flow and saw Bates pick up his second of the afternoon after some quick thinking saw him released down the blindside, using his searing pace he burnt off any defender to score under the posts - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

Harwood completed his hat-trick when he darted through a gap in the defence and rushed to the line - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

Sam Taylor then doubled up with another showing of his raw pace & strength which saw him bust through 2 players on his way to the line - Connor Johnson adding the conversion.

The final score of the day saw some lovely offloading finding Lewis who broke the line, draw his man then pass the the onrushing Lee Bennet who had to scope the ball up before striding over for a deserved score.

The final result being 92-7

A special mention has to go to Anthony Anderson who swan dived to 'score' only to find he was on the 22meter line & to Riley Haywood who made his 1st XV debut.

Coach Lee Tonks said after the game "I wanted us to go out there perform, lay down a marker & show this league that were not here to mess about - that's exactly the reaction I got today". He carried on "Fair play to Birmingham it's never nice to lose in that manner but they played till the last minute & wish them luck in their next fixture".

Bedworth travel to Burbage next week in a league fixture, which will see the teams meet for the first time.