Bedford Athletic retain Bedfordshire County Cup with record-equalling 14th triumph
Bedford Athletic retained the Bedfordshire Cup with a 29-17 victory against Ampthill Extras last weekend.
The win was Athletic’s 14th County Cup success, equalling a record previously held by Stockwood Park, and brought a successful end to a difficult relegation season.
It was a match in which Athletic started and finished strongly but in which they had a slump in the middle that they did well to overcome.
The early pressure in the game all came from Ampthill, but the home team did well to cope with it and reduce any scoring chances.
When they did get the ball they were keen to look for a quick break to out their opponents under pressure, Dylan Edgington very much to the fore.
A couple of line out opportunities close to the Ampthill line threatened to bring an opening score.
But in the end it was from a midfield scrum that scrum half Tana Stenson was able to move the ball quickly, full back Bradley McKenna cutting into the line to exploit the space and score the opening try on 18 minutes.
Although Ampthill retained possession from the kick off, they struggled to win lineout ball and as a result Athletic were able to create counter attacking opportunities.
McKenna again did much of the damage with a pacy break and when the ball came wide wing Ryan Fields was on hand to claim his 12th try of the season for a 10-0 lead on 25 minutes.
Ampthill then started to dominate possession which was key in a match when the defending team were penalised frequently.
Nevertheless Ampthill exerted pressure well and second row Connor Rogers was sin-binned for persistent offences.
With the extra space Ampthill scored their first try on the left wing through Tom Watson.
When the home kick off went dead, Ampthill were again able to exploit possession, putting good width on the game.
With the extra man in the forwards they looked to exploit the home side through a series of scrums close to the Bedford line and forced a second yellow card this time for the other second row Erran Singh-Soomal.
However, they overplayed their hand and Athletic forced a scrum penalty in response and were able to clear their lines and lead 10-5 at half-time.
The defensive effort before half time melted away at the start of the second half as Ampthill regained their own kick off, smashed through the next ruck and Alex Evans scored under the posts within a minute of the restart for a try converted by James Kearns to take the lead at 12-10.
A fine 50:22 kick from the visiting fly half gave Ampthill further pressure and at this stage Athletic had gone 20 minutes without any possession of note.
The tide started to turn and a series of penalties saw the home side force their way upfield and several forward drives in the Ampthill 22 saw captain Liam Walpole cross the line for the try.
Tom Orton converted with a drop kick for a 17-12 lead.
Ampthill responded immediately once again breaking through a number of tackles for Ben Teagle to score and tie the game up at 17-all with half an hour to play.
From thereon Athletic upped the intensity with strong carries from Lewis Sharp, Elijah Oladeji and Ryley Longmuir making a big difference to the momentum of the game.
With a little more accuracy further scores would have come sooner, but the pressure was starting to tell and Ampthill lost a back row to the sin bin.
This led to a Bedford Athletic attacking lineout and when the ball was moved down the back line it was Jack Darlow who popped up on the left wing for the score on 62 minutes.
It was now Ampthill’s turn to send the kick off dead and Bedford Athletic returned to the attack looking to put pace on the game.
A tap penalty on the visitors’ 22 saw Bradley Mckenna dart, twist and run around most of the visiting team to score under the posts on 66 minutes, Orton adding a conversion for a 29-17 lead.
Chasing the game Ampthill now looked to run the ball but too many errors led to conceding possession frequently.
Athletic were keen to play with pace as well but also failed to create a scoring chance.
A sequence of penalties saw Ampthill advance in the final moments, but in the end the home side pushed their opponents off their own scrum ball to clear their lines and secure the win.