Bedford Blues……………24pts
Tries: Worley 15, French 28, Adamson 41, 70
Conversions: Maisey 16, 42
Ampthill…………………….. 29pts
Tries: Jackson 10, Stonham 22, Adejimi 32, 36 Conversions: Barton 11, 23, 37
Penalties: Barton 57
AMPTHILL arrested their recent poor run of form against Bedford Blues with a stunning away victory at Goldington Road.
Dubbed ‘The Battle of Bedfordshire', Paul Turner's side made it three bonus point victories in succession in a game they led pretty much from start to finish in terms of the scoreboard and silenced a large home Bedford support.
It moves Ampthill up to sixth in the table, while Bedford missed the chance to move into second place – dropping to fourth in the process despite the two losing bonus points.
Turner said: “We've faced some big deficits in recent weeks, so it was really important to get infront early, particularly with us going down the slope first half.
“Bedford forced us to play in the second half, nearly threw it away at the end, but it's great for us because it's three in a row and we've beaten a really good Bedford side there.”
Ampthill made the short trip along the B530 backed by a compliment of 10 dual-reg Saracens players and all their tries came from those associated to the Premiership side, including hooker Samson Adejimi who bagged a brace and continues to be the form player in the division.
Brandon Jackson and Ollie Stonham also crossed before half-time as they built a healthy 26-12 lead with a strong showing up front.
Bedford needed a spark, and it came within 60 seconds of the restart as Dean Adamson scored his first of the afternoon – bringing up 100 Championship tries in the process.
His 101st not only brought him within seven of the all-time second-tier record but also set up a grandstand finale.
And when Ampthill kicked the ball out thinking time was up, you almost felt it was written in the stars for Bedford to go on and win.
But Ampthill stood firm despite Syd Blackmore being the second visiting player sent to the sin bin for collapsing the maul, and held firm in defence to force the knock on and secure a first win over Bedford in five attempts.
Bedford director of rugby, Mike Rayer admitted: “We're very disappointed. We had enough chances to win the game, so we've got to look at ourselves and why we didn't have the ability to turn pressure into points. Ampthill were clinical. We had a great start to the second half and should have used that as a platform to kick on.”
