Crowle furious at Blues’ capitulation
29 January 2012..... Leeds Carnegie v Bedford Blues. Carnegie's Andy Titterrell side steps Blues Paul Tupai as Phil Boulton and Jake Sharp close in
BLUES first team coach Rob Crowle vented his anger at the lack of discipline shown by his side after they collapsed to a 21-17 defeat to Leeds Carnegie on Sunday, writes James Heneghan.
Bedford were in control at half time, leading 11-6 following an impressive opening 40 minutes in wretched conditions.
But the Yorkshire side fought back and they were helped by Bedford’s soaring penalty count as they claimed the victory.
Crowle said: “We played very well in the first half. We were the only ones playing any rugby and we were particularly pleased with our defence.
“We spoke at half time about giving cheap penalties away, we said we can’t afford to do that because it’ll let them back in the game and that’s exactly what happened. We gave so many cheap penalties away that allowed them to get a bit of momentum and get back into the game and win it.”
It’s not the first time this season that Bedford have let a game slip away due to conceding countless second half penalties.
“We’re very disappointed,” Crowle continued. “You can’t make excuses about the conditions because it’s the same for both sides. The worst thing was the smell of the pitch, I’m not sure what they put on it.
“The conditions didn’t allow us to play our natural game, but we do plenty of practices for conditions like this but that’s no excuse. We just gave too many penalties away and it allowed them back into the game. It’s our own fault that we didn’t adapt well enough to the conditions.”
The result means it’s been nearly two months since Bedford recorded back-to-back wins, highlighting their problems with consistency.
Crowle added: “It’s more than inconsistency week-to-week, it’s within a game. One half we play and the second half we don’t.
“We just don’t know what’s going on, we lose composure a lot and that’s when we give penalties away. We’ve got to put it right now, but it’s not going to be easy because every team we play now will be desperate for the points so there are no easy games. Teams at the bottom and the teams in the top eight have everything to play for so we have to just go for it.”
Bedford have slumped to third in the table following the defeat, two points behind Cornish Pirates and 11 behind leaders Bristol.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
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