Post by Jamie Crawford on Nov 29, 2014 8:29:32 GMT
Bedford Blues attempts to bounce back from a disappointing defeat in Penzance last weekend were thwarted by a stubborn Doncaster Knights side who all but booked their place in the next round of the British & Irish Cup with a 15-17 win at Goldington Road on Friday night.
Losing 65-14 to Cornish Pirates had been a massive blow and the Blues wanted to give the 2002 fans who came through the Goldington Road gates something to celebrate and while tries from Hayden Thompson-Stringer and Henry Staff were greeted with huge cheers, the boot of Dougie Flockhart meant that the visitors took the spoils.
The game was barely three minutes old when referee Andrew Small awarded the Knights a penalty which Flockhart dispatched with ease. Doncaster were certainly enjoying possession and territory early on and a series of penalties on the Blues five metre line led to Paul Tupai being carded. Donnie made the extra man count and their scrum turned the screw which resulted in a penalty try which was easily converted.
From the restart there was a nasty clash of heads between Viliami Hakalo and Bevon Armitage. Both went off with blood injuries but it proved to be Hakalo’s final involvement in the game. Despite being a man down, the Blues sent wave after wave of attack forward and it looked as if Camilo Parilli-Ocampo had grounded the ball but he was judged to have been held up.
A breakthrough finally came in the 25th minute when a well worked Blues lineout resulted in the impressive Thompson-Stringer breaking from the back and bundling his way over the line but his effort went unconverted.
The second half was only six minutes old when Doncaster extended their lead. A poor pass looked to have killed their attack from a scrum but fullback Paul Jarvis scooped the ball in superbly and turned on the gas to outpace Pritchard to the try line with Flockhart converting well from the touchline.
Pritchard was able to narrow the gap to 8-17 when he struck a penalty from the edge of the 22 and Bedford felt that the game could be there for the taking.
In the 66th minute, Bedford struck for a second time. The Blues had pegged Donnie back into their own 22 and were throwing the ball around confidently. As the backs took over, Staff delayed a pass beautifully and then sold a dummy to find space and dot down with Pritchard converting to make it 15-17.
Flockhart missed a penalty moments later and Bedford began running through numerous phases as they looked for a final push but with time ticking away the ball slipped out of hand and the ref called time on the game.
Losing 65-14 to Cornish Pirates had been a massive blow and the Blues wanted to give the 2002 fans who came through the Goldington Road gates something to celebrate and while tries from Hayden Thompson-Stringer and Henry Staff were greeted with huge cheers, the boot of Dougie Flockhart meant that the visitors took the spoils.
The game was barely three minutes old when referee Andrew Small awarded the Knights a penalty which Flockhart dispatched with ease. Doncaster were certainly enjoying possession and territory early on and a series of penalties on the Blues five metre line led to Paul Tupai being carded. Donnie made the extra man count and their scrum turned the screw which resulted in a penalty try which was easily converted.
From the restart there was a nasty clash of heads between Viliami Hakalo and Bevon Armitage. Both went off with blood injuries but it proved to be Hakalo’s final involvement in the game. Despite being a man down, the Blues sent wave after wave of attack forward and it looked as if Camilo Parilli-Ocampo had grounded the ball but he was judged to have been held up.
A breakthrough finally came in the 25th minute when a well worked Blues lineout resulted in the impressive Thompson-Stringer breaking from the back and bundling his way over the line but his effort went unconverted.
The second half was only six minutes old when Doncaster extended their lead. A poor pass looked to have killed their attack from a scrum but fullback Paul Jarvis scooped the ball in superbly and turned on the gas to outpace Pritchard to the try line with Flockhart converting well from the touchline.
Pritchard was able to narrow the gap to 8-17 when he struck a penalty from the edge of the 22 and Bedford felt that the game could be there for the taking.
In the 66th minute, Bedford struck for a second time. The Blues had pegged Donnie back into their own 22 and were throwing the ball around confidently. As the backs took over, Staff delayed a pass beautifully and then sold a dummy to find space and dot down with Pritchard converting to make it 15-17.
Flockhart missed a penalty moments later and Bedford began running through numerous phases as they looked for a final push but with time ticking away the ball slipped out of hand and the ref called time on the game.
