BLUES: Taylor treble downs Wizards
Hosts leave it late in fractious encounter
British & Irish Cup
Bedford Blues 17 Aberavon Wizards 15
Duncan Taylor scored all three of the Bedford Blues' tries as they scraped to a late 17-15 victory against Aberavon Wizards at Goldington Road.
A bad-tempered encounter that produced a number of altercations looked to have eluded the hosts who made nearly all of the running without scoring the points that they probably deserved.
Jamie Murphy kicked all of the visitors' points to put them in control of a penalty-ridden affair, but the Blues, and Taylor, found space when it mattered to send an agitated crowd home with something resembling a smile on their face.
The hosts, who had made a number of changes from the side that lost to Doncaster a week ago, made an encouraging start as they looked to settle into the game with an early score.
A brawl that incorporated the majority of those on the field – Paul Tupai and his opposite number Richard Morris the main antagonists – added a bit of early spice to the contest.
A kickable penalty was turned down in the eighth minute and this proved to be a wise move as Nick Walshe, scampering around the blind side, gave Taylor the easy task of strolling over from close range, James Pritchard hitting the right-hand upright with his conversion attempt.
Murphy made a hash of a straightforward penalty a couple of minutes later, the Wizards' number 10 pulling his effort wide, and Chris Tossell was then given a yellow card for not releasing in the ruck.
A man to the good, the home side sought to build on their advantage, but found their attempts thwarted by a combination of the Wizards' defence and a lack of precision in their execution.
A dropped ball by Ollie Dodge from Taylor's inside pass with the line begging was a poor mistake and sort of summed up the opening half an hour which ended with the visitors' full allocation restored.
Walshe received a 10-minute rest on 30 minutes for preventing the release of the ball after a retreating Dodge had been isolated and Murphy made amends for his earlier miss with a well-struck penalty.
A combination of Taylor and Ian Davey prevented the Wizards from going in front when Chris Morgan's footballing skills let him down following Tossell's shrewd kick into space and from the resulting lineout, David Pritchard made a hash of a neatly worked move when it looked easier to score.
Some excellent handling from Pritchard released Myles Dorrian and Taylor and enabled the Blues to advance into Wizards' territory as the half drew to a close following a bit of toing and froing with the scoreboard reading 5-3.
Murphy put the Wizards into the lead with his second penalty a couple of minutes after the restart as the Welshmen, who had put their lethargic start behind them, began to exude a more confident air.
With the rain teeming down, Murphy added a third penalty and, as tempers began to run short, Marc Breeze was yellow-carded for an infringement close to his own line.
The Blues had been given a gift-wrapped opportunity to drag themselves back into the game which, after a couple of petty scraps, they took, Taylor getting his second of the afternoon with a virtual carbon copy of his first half score.
One point up, the Blues' Brett Daynes then decided to level the card count with an unnecessary late challenge and straight away, Murphy restored the Wizards' lead with penalty number four.
Needing to get their hands on the ball, the Blues found themselves on the back foot as Murphy made it five successful penalties from six.
The Wizards' fly-half then missed an opportunity to put the Blues two scores behind when he pulled a penalty well wide and his uncharacteristic inaccuracy was punished when, in injury time, Taylor squeezed over to complete his hat-trick and Pritchard, with perfect timing, dropped his conversion inches over the bar.
Blues: Pritchard, Taylor, Dodge (Burke 62), Roberts, Davey, Dorrian, Walshe (Veenendaal 69), Cecere (Walsh 70), Locke, Seal, Howard, Harlock (Rae 60), Gillanders, Daynes (Goodman 72), Tupai.
Substitutes: Richmond, Vass.
Referee: David Walker
Attendance: 1,230
Star Blue: Gregor Gillanders. Consistently good all round performance.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
