Bedford Blues 42 Coventry 6: Neil Roy's verdict
Bedford shot to the top of the Championship table with a six try blitz over arch rivals Coventry that had fans screaming "Bring on Bristol."
And those who have backed the Blues to take the title in the competition's first season won't have to wait much longer for the big showdown.
September 26 is when the west country giants are due in town. It is then that we'll all find out just how good this team is.
The influential Rugby Times predicts Bedford will go one better than last season and come second to Bristol - the side relegated from the Premiership and always favourites to go back up.
But now it's a whole new ball game as far as promotion is concerned. And whoever goes up will have to win the play offs – rather than the league.
Last year, Bedford started at a fair old gallop against the weakest sides in the division. And no one got too carried away.
This time with five clubs culled from the league and clashes with Bristol at the end of September and Exeter at the end of October it should be anything but a stroll.
But after two games it is. And the formbook says it should be more of the same at Plymouth on Saturday.
Of course, once upon a time a home fixture against Coventry was at best an even money fixture for the Blues. Away it was more often than not a no hoper.
But not since Rudi Straueli blamed chef de camp Nos Thomas for picking the team have Bedford actually lost to the club that bought them for 50p ten years ago.
And that's a sequence of nine games on the trot – five home, four away. Confidence is high. And it showed towards the end of a match when Ben Lewitt and co started playing a form of basketball.
Even when it was only 13-6 at half time there wasn't the slightest doubt about who was going to win.
Coventry were down to 14 men inside ten minutes when Bedford took a penalty to the lineout and moved the ball both sides of the park before the quicksilver Brendan Burke touched down and full-back James Pritchard converted.
The betting on who would be the first player on either side to get a yellow card made Arthur Brenton the red hot favourite.
The Coventry skipper played 144 times for the Blues before he moved on. Last year he obliged in the colours of Plymouth but this time he was as good as gold and his colleague David Maddocks was first of three forwards to attract the attention of Australian referee Mike Tully.
Bedford's enforcer Paul Tupai was second favourite and he duly went to the sin bin on 12 minutes; but while he was away the Blues held out and missed a number of chances.
Coventry had their best period in the just before half time when Bedford number eight Chris Goodman became player number three to be sent to the cooler. He was unlucky - but had to go as the player committing the third offence in the red zone.
But he had a great efficient game as part of a Blues pack that gradually strangled the opposition and he finished off the best of five tries in the second half after good work from the influential Lewitt, lock Alex Rae and winger Ollie Dodge.
Tupai set the tone of the second half by touching down twice at the Goldington Avenue end, the first on 45 minutes from a rolling maul and the second after fly half Myles Dorrian ghosted past a clutch of his former Coventry team mates.
Tupai and Dorrian were then both involved before winger Ian Davey sent Pritchard in.
The Blues record points scorer couldn't convert and had what seemed a rare off day with the boot.
But he did add the points to Brad Davies' try in injury time – set up by a neat break from replacement scrum half Darryl Veenendaal – and he ended with three conversions, two first half penalties and a try for a 17 point haul.
Bedford Blues: Walsh (Brown), Richmond (Locke), Boulton, Tupai (Spencer), Rae, Gillanders, Lewitt (Harding), Goodman, Chudley (Veenendaal), Dorrian (Davies), Davey, Vass, Burke (Roberts), Dodge, Pritchard.
T&C MOM: Chris Goodman – efficient.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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