​Blues win but Tigers beat Ampthill

Blues secured their first victory of the new season by seeing off Caldy 32-24 in a tough battle at Goldington Road.

Caldy flew out of the traps and were 12-0 to the good after ten minutes but Dean Adamson went over to reduce the arrears and Cameron King scored his first in Blues colours.

Joey Conway dotted down just three minutes after coming on as a half-time replacement then Jordan Venter wrapped up the bonus point for Blues.

Caldy’s Matt Gallagher added two late tries but with Will Maisey kicking some crucial points for Bedford it was their day.

Last season’s Championship’s top points scorer, Will Maisey got his campaign up and running with some crucial points from the boot and those penalties ultimately proved the difference as Blues look to make Goldington Road the fortress it was for the majority of last season.

Try scorer King said: “It was a very shaky start. We got into our groove the longer the game went on and at times, looked like we found our rhythm.

“We should have got another 20 points, but we just weren’t clinical enough. Caldy are a great side and they put a lot in to stop us at the line, but I think we’ll go back and accept we should have converted more into tries in those areas.

“The main thing is that we’ve started things from a competitive perspective at home with five points.”

Ampthill, meanwhile, travelled to take on Leicester Tigers and succumbed to a 64-14 defeat in what was a huge game for the club.

The young Tigers side proved too strong, leading 36-7 at half-time with Charlie Bracken scoring Ampthill’s try.

Zac Nearchou added another Ampthill try after the break but Tigers went on to seal a comfortable win.

Head coach Paul Turner said “There were plenty positives to take from today’s game despite the final scoreline.

"We had a few standout performances – Ollie Dawkins had one of his best games for us and I thought Morgan Strong was superb again but nearly every player had good moments. We stayed in the fight to the very end and we’ll learn from the experience."

This weekend sees the first eagerly-anticipated local derby of the season as Ampthill host the Blues in the Premiership Cup, kick-off 3pm at Dillingham Park.