Barren run at Doncaster continues for Bedford Blues while leaders sink Ampthill

Bedford’s winless run in Doncaster continued, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort as they battled bravely for over 30 minutes with 14 men after Alfie Garside’s red card for a second yellow.

Blues will feel a massive sense of what could have been in a game where they led on a couple of occasions but ultimately ran out of puff as the hosts eventually made the numbers game count.

Fred Tuilagi scored twice; while Michael Le Bourgeois, James Fish and Matt Worley also crossed. They will rue a missed penalty with the last play which would have given them a second point to take back to Goldington Road.

On many times over the years, Blues have played so well but come away with so little at Castle Park. And so it continued, not helped by some uncharacteristic mistakes which gifted Doncaster many of their tries.

Meanwhile Ampthill suffered their first Championship defeat since late February, losing 53-17 at home to runaway leaders Ealing Trailfinders.

Ampthill head coach Paul Turner said: “We made too many basic errors today. We’re certainly fully committed but it’s been the story of our season. We can’t make that many errors against teams like Ealing and expect to win, and I’m really disappointed that we conceded at the start of both halves.”