The Bedford match report
Towering runner
By JDH
October 30 2017
On a glorious afternoon and perfect conditions for playing rugby we took on Bedford looking to leapfrog them in the table.I arrived in good time and saw most of the Bedford’s warm up which was pretty free flowing and a good indicator of how they play the game. Looking down the Carnegie team sheet I am always a little happier when it contains both Mayhew’s in the squad
In an open first half it was Carnegie that went over for the first score of the day. Mike Mayhew latched on to the back of a driving maul after good work from the rest of the pack. Our attacking maul has fallen away of late and not been used to such an extent as previous years. But it was back on the menu today!
Then a Carnegie mistake in attack lead to Bedford getting the ball back and levelling the game. We were guilty most of the afternoon of the backs not getting the ball through the hands fast enough or choosing the wrong option. With an overlap Casson chose to chip which the defender got a hand to. Bedford then worked the ball up field and went over for the try.
Carnegie then took the lead again thanks to the driving maul and a pumped Mike Mayhew. It looked like Bedford had split the Carnegie forwards but Mike drove with loads of aggression around the side and when over.
Bedford then saw their best period of possession and took the lead with a decent try and penalty.
Then came the “play of the day” from Jack Whetton. Breaking from his own half, showing some great pace and awareness, he made a good 30m before throwing a monster off load out of the back door to Elder who had too much pace and a good hand off to see him score. Carnegie went in at halftime with a 19-17 lead. It was good to see Jimmy walking off chatting to Pete and Boden with Thomas.
In the second half Carnegie started smarter, making far less mistakes and playing in the right areas of the pitch. Another maul was very well finished on the blind side by Stedman after it looked like Bedford would get them in touch.
We were then forced to reshuffle the backline again with Casson going off injured. Feel sorry for Tom. Has he played more than 3 full games in a row yet? Have we kept the same backline for a game barring planned substitutions? I don’t think so
Carnegie were in the driving seat and leading by a couple of scores with 10mins for so remaining. A lead gained through a pen try and Mike’s maul hat trick. But some really poor kicking from hand gave Bedford the ball back numerous times and Carnegie lost control of the game a vital moments.
In the injury time Bedford were trailing by 7 and camped 5m from our line. Successive yellows for Whetton (who’s right leg was now made of wood) and Rich Mayhew (who came on for the injured Bainbridge in the first half) saw Carnegie defending with 13 men. Bedford went over in the corner with the ref giving it on the touch judges call. It looked like a knock on to me but linesman was on the spot. 38-36 and the Bedford kicker who had slotted everything (as had the starting 10) steps up from the touch line to get the draw. Its looked like it was in all the way, then it looked short and wide but it was somewhere in the middle....namely the post and into a relieved Richard Beck's hands.
A brilliant game for the neutral and a good win for Carnegie. Bedford play an organised and fluid brand of rugby. A pleasure to watch, plus their 2 points gained kept them above YC albeit 4th to 6th are all on 22pts.
I thought all our guys had a pretty good game on the whole. Pete again stood up as the stand in 10 and you cannot fault the effort. The one guy who I will end on and who should get some well earned praise is Elliot Millar-Mills. Crap name but what a find. He has fitted in seamlessly. Top performance lad!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017:11:10:08:14:47 by Wildwillie .
Have just watched the Elder try on the highlights about 6 times. Brilliant to watch. Lucock pounced on a loose ball, quick offload to Whetton and the rest is history. Came just at the right time for us too as we were under pressure.
Lots of contenders for MoM- both Mayhews, Millar Mills, Whetton, Lucock, Homer
Splendid debut for JDH & a good summation of the ups and downs of the afternoon.
Pistol Pete did some meaty tackles in the midfield. I bet the Bedford lads were not expecting that from our 10. (after being tigged by Joe Ford last season)
I have to agree that Millar-Mills has fitted in well after stepping up from Caldy (iirc).
Happy days
Oh that try - something dreams are made of.
Not wanting to put a damper on things - Stevie missed 7 points while they only missed 4 (I think - the last 2 being 'justice' for the try that never was) so it could've been a bit less squeaky bum though we should never have let them back when we were 14 points ahead.
Good day at the office all round.
However, in my view, it would have been better if the coaching staff spent more time on the basics. Catching the ball, retaining possession, supporting players in break aways... At times sadly our lads were running around like headless chickens.
There appeared to be no structure to our game.
That having been said, there were some good performances. Pete Lucock was good in an unfamiliar position. (Is there any position he has not played in whilst at Leeds? A true all rounder. Richard Beck was often head and shoulders above the forward pack! Chris Elder showed pace and what he can do with ball in hand. Good to see that Stevie McColl seems to have discovered that he can run and carry the ball.
So, a lot of positives but please coaches, spend some time in training on basics! Simple errors are killing us!
Finally, the touch judge must have been the only one in the stadium that thought the Bedford final "try" was good. The ref had not got a clue, indicating "held up" then "knock on" before conferring with his assistant. It was perhaps poetic justice that the kick for goal hit the upright and fell on the side of safety.
Hey, its a win. And a win, is a win no matter how it comes!
