Bedford Blues back to winning ways, but Ampthill let it slip

But RFU Championship neighbours Ampthill crashed 54-34 away at Hartpury.

Bedford returned to winning ways after two really frustrating defeats in recent weeks.

Dean Adamson will take most of the headlines as his 121st try in Blues colours saw him go level with Bedford legend, Ben Whetstone in joint fourth in the all-time try scoring leaderboard, only 25 short of top spot.

Assistant coach, Jim Henry said: “We had to work really hard for the win, London Scottish came and made us work for it. We made some unforced errors, but they put a lot of pressure on us, and we had to find a way.

“It was great to get back to winning ways and hopefully we can take some of the positives into the coming weeks, particularly with another home game against Cornish Pirates this weekend.”

Ampthill head coach Paul Turner was left frustrated by his side's game management after a 13-try thriller at the University Stadium

“We were very disappointed with the result,” he said.

“Hartpury are a good side, but we made it easy for them despite scoring five tries ourselves.

“We were in a position both in the first half and again early in the second to finish the game off and we’ve not been able to do that.

“We’re a young team but our game management and accountability in both attack and defence needs to improve.

“Our set piece was always second best and all these facets really needs to get better if we’re to get consistent results in the second half of the season.

“We spoke about a few things at half time and got a great response initially then let ourselves down badly as second half progressed.

“It’s frustrating but credit to Hartpury for the win today, their pack gave them a good platform but I felt we helped them and we offered them plenty of opportunities to win the game in last 20 minutes. We’ve a lot to work on”

Hartpury are one of the form teams in the Championship with three wins from four going into the game, but the Mob raced into a 14-0 only to see Hartpury lead 21-19 at the break

Ampthill started the second half like the first as Elliot chipped the defender and recovered his kick to score.

They then led 34-28 with 50 minutes gone but played most of the final 30 minutes with a man disadvantage – Harvey Beaton getting a yellow for a high tackle and Cai Devine being judged to bring down a maul shortly after his introduction with 10 minutes to go.

As the Ampthill penalty count racked up, another four Hartpury tries in the final 20 minutes – two catch and maul drives, a penalty and a well worked final try in the corner sealed victory for the hosts.

Ampthill host Nottingham on Saturday.