Bedford’s late burst denies Welsh third place
NEVER-SAY-DIE Bedford snapped a three-game losing streak with a hard-earned victory to revive their hopes of a top four finish.
In a fluctuating match that saw the lead change hands seven times, late tries from Jordan Burns and George Perkins denied London Welsh the chance of going third.
Delighted Blues boss Mike Rayer said: “We rode our luck at times but we deserved more against Ealing and Nottingham, so to win here was just reward.”
Bedford stormed ahead on four minutes, Dean Adamson’s mazy run splitting Welsh’s rearguard before Josh Buggea sent in Will Carrick-Smith. Myles Dorrian nailed the conversion and then added a penalty after Exiles obstructed a maul.
Exiles responded by forcing a succession of close-range scrums and the pressure eventually told as No.8 Kieran Murphy touched down.
Bedford butchered a guiltedged lineout chance, allowing Welsh to break to devastating effect, Martyn Thomas splintering Bedford’s midfield from deep before the ball sped wide via Glyn Hughes and Seb Jewell for Kristian Phillips to fly over.
Hughes converted to put Welsh 12-10 in front, before Bedford retook the lead when Dorrian intercepted Ryan Glynn’s pass and released Perkins. The onloan Saracens wing roared in from halfway for a 15-12 interval lead.
Bedford’s advantage was short-lived, though, as Phillips set sail minutes after the restart and kicked ahead. Blues cleared but Ben West collected the lineout before Exiles set up the
maul, Nathan Morris applying the finishing touch.
Dorrian and Joe Carlisle exchanged penalties, before Bedford replacement Jake Sharp reduced his side’s deficit to a point. And Blues regained the lead through Sharp’s three-pointer after Miles Mantella laid a high shot on Burns.
Mantella was sin-binned but the short-handed Welsh fought back, forcing a scrum penalty which Carlisle slotted over for a 25-24 lead.
That set up a grandstand finish and it was Bedford who prevailed, with Burns going over from Paul Tupai’s pass before Perkins delivered the killer blow – and with it the try-bonus – after Burns broke clear and laid the score on a plate.
Welsh head coach James Buckland said: “We knew if we kicked loosely they’d punish us. It was a great opportunity to put ourselves in the play-off mix but we let ourselves down.”