Blues take the honours to land top four finish

THE end of the season is fast approaching, and the sun was out in force. That combination led to brilliant fare at the Richmond Athletic Ground, both sides taking the opportunity to play with abandon on a gloriously warm day.

Scottish have been in excellent form of late, so it was no surprise they came out swinging.

Dan Nutton swarmed through a gap for their opener in just the third minute, and it was the instigator for a contest which would go on to deliver another nine scores.

The Blues, though, are enjoying a terrific campaign of their own and it didn’t take long for them to show how they’ve secured a top four spot.

Sean French levelled up proceedings with a smart finish out wide, and even though Scottish struck again soon after – through Noah Ferdinand and with the aid of the officials’ call of no knock on, even though it seemed clear – Blues started to click.

A brilliant score from Dean Adamson saw the winger chip and chase to ruthless effect, and the bonus point score was not far behind.

Opting to remain patient and suck in Scottish bodies, Joe Howard eventually put his foot on the accelerator before teeing up Jac Arthur for a straightforward finish.

This Scottish outfit, though, is arguably the most resilient in the division and they went in at the break in touch as Jack Musk was driven over from a maul.

And with the crowd upping the ante in the stands, they drew level early on in the second half as Tom Osborne threw all his heft at the line, the Blues defence having no answer.

But, as the penalty count racked up against the visitors built a lead which would prove to be enough, just.

Will Maisey eeked over a penalty, ahead of the outstanding Michael Le Bourgeois flying over out wide as the Scottish defence splintered.

Charlie Ingall bumped over late on to ensure Scottish finished with a flourish and two points of their own, capping an excellent afternoon for the neutral in the capital.

“I’m frustrated if truth be told because we should have won that game. We gifted Bedford far too much, especially in the first half,” said Scottish head coach Joe Gray.

“We’ve come a long way over the course of the past few weeks and we’ve shown we are a match for anyone. Bedford are a top team, which you can see by their league position so while it’s certainly no disgrace, it’s one that’s got away from us.”