Christmas comes early for Bedford

Because Yorkshire Carnegie didn’t take advantage of their opportunities in the first half, gave away a good lead in the last quarter of the match and made a hell of a lot of wrong decisions. The early minutes of the match saw Bedford applying the pressure but really it was more style over substance and that was how it remained all match – just that Yorkshire Carnegie made mistakes that Bedford took advantage of.

After ten minutes Yorkshire Carnegie got hold of the ball with Bainbridge and Georgiou coming close. But it was Imiolek who took the catch and drive over. 0-7 after 15 minutes as Leonard converted in the stiff breeze which was played its part for the team playing uphill in both halves as it was stopping the ball going any distance.

The play went to the other end of the pitch and Myerscough had an early rest for being the culprit who pulled down the scrum about 10 yards from our line. Bedford took a scrum against the head and got a penalty for their efforts. Yorkshire Carnegie won the scrum Bedford opted for and within seconds the ball was just yards from Bedford’s line. Part of this was due to Smith lolloping down the pitch rather like a giraffe wading through a muddy watering hole – a sight to see which would’ve kinder on the eyes if he had support. Bainbridge looked like he was going to score but a Bedford player came offside to stop him, a penalty try was awarded and Bedford were down to fourteen for the rest of the half. Leonard converted. 0-14 at the half hour mark.

Lucock came on for Casson who got hurt in the early skirmishes. It was their centre partner who was making opportunities that others failed to take advantage off and several scoring chances were fluffed. Walker made a break and again lack of support meant he kicked to touch albeit just yards from the Bedford line. Yorkshire Carnegie gave away a penalty at the line out and the half ended.

Within a minute of the second half starting there was a long delay for treatment to Georgiou who was replaced by Hodgson with Leonard going to full back and Holmes to wing. Bedford had attacking opportunities but their mistakes and pressure from Yorkshire Carnegie saw them come to nothing.

Other changes took place with Beech and Ryder on for Imiolek and Smith and Bedford continued to attack but Jones put in a mighty defensive tackle to stop a dangerous break. They had more bouts of pressure but kept making the same errors and strong defence held them out. That strong defence meant Yorkshire Carnegie turned over the ball and they ran it up the pitch for Hodgson to score his first try for his club with some fancy side stepping. Leonard converted. 0-21 on the hour and Nilsen came on for Walker.

Then it all went wrong, very, very wrong. It was as if an off switch was hit and brains went into neutral and gears into reverse. We started by kicking the ball away too often and as this was in to the wind it was more fruitless than usual. Bedford managed to score close in from a ruck which was converted. They got a bit of confidence and started to move the ball. This included a high ball that Hodgson decided that running away from it and twisting was a better way of catching than turning round to face it and going backwards to get in the right spot – which of course was never going to happen. Holmes was binned for being offside. Somehow Bedford didn’t get the ball over the line that time but they did a few minutes later with the conversion hitting the post.

Yorkshire Carnegie got a penalty from a scrum and, unbelievably, with minutes to go but against an opposition with their confidence boosted, opted to kick for touch.
Next up was Stegmann becoming the villain as he missed several tackles and fumbled several passes. Lucock was caught off guard and was not able to take an awkward bounce. This allowed Bedford in for their third try but there were shouts of a knock on from Yorkshire Carnegie players and fans alike. 19-21 with two minutes to go and Bedford got a penalty on the half way line which, as we all know was converted.

The restart did not make the required ten metres, Bedford retained the ball from the scrum and kicked it into touch to win.

The last quarter of the match was abysmal and some tough discussions are needed about why poor decisions were made, tackles missed and poor passes made when there was no pressure from the opposition. The journey was not the trouble – they went down the night before. This in itself shows the intent from the club and, talking to Buzz just before the warm up, was welcomed by the players.

Bainbrige played well again. Forsyth was effective in the first half. Jones had his best match in a Yorkshire Carnegie shirt and gets one of Rocky’s lovely cupcakes – complete with away shirt coloured icing for his efforts. Stegmann had his worst; the thing about Bedford is that you, if you get a decent spot, you are close to the action and he can’t tackle nor pass the ball. Goodness knows what happened to him last season but he’s not the player who haunted us at London Welsh.

It was interesting that our new water boy took some of the players off for their post-match warm down – goodness knows what he thought of the decision making and lack of leadership; I know most of the travelling support were confused and frustrated by it.

With some really strange results taking place across the league this weekend, there was an opportunity for Yorkshire Carnegie to lay down a marker but they gifted a win to Bedford like a sneak thief making the most of an unlocked door when no one’s at home.

A few final words – thanks to the club for putting on a fun bus. More please! And best wishes and get fixed and fit soon to Christian Georgiou who was taken to hospital after the match with a dislocated shoulder.