No reward for battling Bedford Blues as they lose to Ealing Trailfinders

Conditions made it almost impossible for Mike Rayer's side to get into their free flowing rhythm with swirling wind and howling rain.

Blues assistant coach, Jim Henry said: “We are really disappointed to come away with nothing but ill discipline cost us in the end. Spending 10 minutes with 13 men always makes it hard work to hang on in there.

“We’ll review the game because there will be loads of positives from the lads going toe to toe with Ealing.”

A brave call from Blues to elect to go down the slope in the first half looked to be paying off when they built up a 17-8 advantage with two expertly crafted tries for Matt Worley and Alfie Garside and some superb tee kicking from Will Maisey.

But Blues' discipline faded and two yellow cards in the space of 45 seconds killed all the momentum as Ealing secured the points.

Also in the Championship, Ampthill returned to winning ways with a 15-14 victory over a determined London Scottish at The RAG.

Head coach Paul Turner said “It’s a big win for us but London Scottish made us work hard for it in the second half. The conditions made it difficult for both teams. It’s a confidence boost for our squad but we’ve still got a lot to work to do in parts of our game.”

A quick interchange between Lloyd-Seed and Cam Anderson saw the ex-Ampthill man stroll in from 8m out, the try converted, on eight minutes.

Scottish then won a penalty 5m out and drove over from a quick tap and go. A second conversion made it 14-0

A well struck Barton kick from 30m got Ampthill on the scoreboard.

The second half was an arm wrestle until with just over ten minutes left, Ampthill made a 5m penalty count with lock Kennedy Sylvester driving over. A successful conversion from replacement fly-half Mitchell put the Mob within four points.

Ampthill dominated possession for the last 10 minutes and another 5m penalty taken by James Flynn forced Michelow over the line to win it.