Blues v Coventry

The same officials for both sides. Bedford were very fortunate not to have a second yellow in the first half.

Brilliant defending by Coventry. Kept us under pressure. Some frustrating moments for the home support, but Coventry deserved the win.

I have never known Bedford to lose a game without the officials every decision being dissected and controversial .When Bedford beat Ealing Trailfinders at home recently they were highly motivated and contested every phase of the game. I believe they lack motivation at certain games but lift their game when they are perceived to be playing the top teams in the league.

Bigbluepip wrote: Could have and should have won that one, Cov denied a try in the first half that should have been given, but Sir didn’t see the grounding, I did. I thought we defended well, and a superb counter attacking try in the first half, but goodness knows how many pens we were pinged for in that game. I’ve said it before, we need to learn to play Sir as well as the other team, never mind if you think they are right or wrong.  Stupid pen to give Cov the lead, even though he’d been taken out in exactly the same way in the ruck before, or it looked that way from where I stood. Butchered some clear try scoring opportunities, bad luck or 15 cramped up when clean through, I think, and scoring looked easier than not, but it happens, and it all went wrong.

Whilst two teams huffed and puffed it was a very tight game. Two very different styles, Cov content to use exclusively forward pressure and 14 man rolling mauls, hence they dominated possession. Bedford on scraps running it and looked dangerous. Bedford should have won the game in the last 20 mins but butchered two, 2 on 1’s with some horrendous passes. But man of the match was the real official of the evening Ryan Burrows, every breakdown chatting to the ref, laughing joking, making every decision around the park. He was awesome without touching the ball very much. I’ve never seen a 10 minute stoppage to decide on a rule, Cov should have been down to 14 just after halftime. Ryan was heavily involved in that. I’ve never seen so many stoppages and on occasions the water team came on for no apparent reason and had to be ushered off. They came off laughing and joking and winking to each other so an obvious ploy. The ref did nothing all night to stop it. I’ve never seen a penalty given for foul play. A team kick to the corner. Everyone set up a line out and as the hooker is throwing the ball in, everyone stops and walks back to the half way line for a penalty. Crowd bemused. All in all a tough game, not a great spectacle which is a shame for our last home game.

Bedfordian wrote: Whilst two teams huffed and puffed it was a very tight game. Two very different styles, Cov content to use exclusively forward pressure and 14 man rolling mauls, hence they dominated possession. Bedford on scraps running it and looked dangerous. Bedford should have won the game in the last 20 mins but butchered two, 2 on 1’s with some horrendous passes. But man of the match was the real official of the evening Ryan Burrows, every breakdown chatting to the ref, laughing joking, making every decision around the park. He was awesome without touching the ball very much. I’ve never seen a 10 minute stoppage to decide on a rule, Cov should have been down to 14 just after halftime. Ryan was heavily involved in that. I’ve never seen so many stoppages and on occasions the water team came on for no apparent reason and had to be ushered off. They came off laughing and joking and winking to each other so an obvious ploy. The ref did nothing all night to stop it. I’ve never seen a penalty given for foul play. A team kick to the corner. Everyone set up a line out and as the hooker is throwing the ball in, everyone stops and walks back to the half way line for a penalty. Crowd bemused. All in all a tough game, not a great spectacle which is a shame for our last home game.

Great post mate it very much sums up the game I watched and enjoyed - great entertainment for the neutral viewer watching two sides with completely different strengths absolutely batter each other for the full match with the result in the balance right up to the last whistle. IMO the right team on the night won but only just, Ryan Burrows was awesome and the match officials had a rare off night. Thanks to Blues for streaming that one and huge pity Donny aren't streaming their game - I have a ticket for the match at St Peter today but the game I really want to see is at Castle Park.

Bedfordian wrote: Being booed off was not a good look

They weren’t slow clapping the treatment of an injured player, they were slow clapping the lengthy chat the Cov skipper had with the ref at every single stoppage in play that made the game stop start, which again was a delaying tactic. Still cannot understand why Cov were allowed to keep 15 players on the pitch once they couldn’t field a front row? Does anyone have an answer to that?

Why should Cov go down to 14 men when both tight heads were injured?  I get it if it were a sin bin but not injury. What’s the rule?

Edited by covchopper - 12 Mar 2022 at 11:45

Thanks Kimbo. I assumed that would be the case as it would seem bizarre for a team to be punished for suffering 2 injuries in the same position and surprised if the crowd were suggesting we should go down to 14 where no foul play has occurred. I couldn’t go last night - sounds like I missed a cheerful bunch. To be fair the commentator on the radio sounded quite fair and balanced. Called out the Bedford prop who ( he said) clearly came in from the side and said he was surprised he wasn’t pinged when he did it the previous time so that might answer a question in a previous post.