​Woe for Blues and Ampthill as derby beckons

​Jersey Reds took a huge step towards the Championship title as Macauley Cook’s late try saw them secure victory at Goldington Road in a game that saw Bedford Blues pretty much wrap up fourth spot with a losing bonus point.

The pair were tied for the majority of the game but Cook’s late intervention saw Jersey edge proceedings 26-19 after a real battle of attrition.

Dean Adamson again had the home crowd on their feet with a superb burst home from 60 metres, his 114th Blues try, while forwards Joey Conway and Tui Uru also dotted down as the teams were level at 12-12 and then 19-19 for the majority of the contest before Cook’s late intervention.

Ampthill, meanwhile, took a depleted, injury-hit squad to Nottingham on Friday night but fell to a 39-0 defeat, though that masked a valiant first-half display in particular from the visitors.

Head coach Paul Turner said afterwards: “I was proud of our effort in the first half, we just lacked that cutting edge to convert our opportunities. It could easily have been 7-7 at half time and to go in 14-0 was tough on the boys.

“We started the second half well but again some of our decision making has let us down. Our kicking game let us down at times and we need a little more patience when we have scoring opportunities. The longer the game went on chasing the game from deep in those conditions was never going to work.

“Fair play to Nottingham, on their day they’re a good side and played the conditions better than us and were far more clinical with their opportunities.

“We’re at bare bones at the moment – we’re missing a lot of senior players and hopefully we’ll have a few of them back when we face Blues at home next Saturday.”

The derby clash is all ticket, which can be purchased via the Ampthill RFC website.