St Albans 18 -v- 22 Bedford Tigers What a game at St Albans with visitors Bedford Tigers. It started raining as the teams came out and stopped as the final whistle blew. Match report below. Game day pics now on our photo web site. The boys are back in town! After being comprehensively out-played and out-fought at North Herts the week earlier, the Centurions bounced back to dominate against high-flying Bedford Tigers, only to lose out thanks to two freak tries against the run-of-play. In treacherous conditions, St Albans dominated possession and territory from the first whistle, inspired by Scott Cluelow’s powerful man-of-the-match performance and Nick Woolley’s clever use of the ball from both hand and foot. Jake Lawrence’s 11th-minute try and sideline conversion were the least the Centurions deserved. On the half-hour the Tigers’ levelled the score thanks to an inspirational run from their right wing. Incredibly, he repeated the feat from the restart and suddenly the Centurions found themselves 12-6 down. Before the break, more quick-think and fancy footwork from Nick Wooley saw him score his first try of the season and convert it from short range. 12-12 at half-time. In the second-half as conditions worsened, territory was at a premium and the Centurions were clearly on top. Only for lightning to strike twice. First, a hopeful punt upfield was mis-controlled by Darren Westhead at full back allowing Tigers’ pacey wing to cross the line for his hat-trick, shortly followed by a knock-on from skipper Joe Baker which fell straight into the path of the same player who hoofed the ball forward and won the foot race to score his fourth of the game. Wave after wave of Centurions pressure followed with no reward thanks to stout Tigers’ defence or crucial errors being made just short of the try line. With two minutes to go, the ever-improving Jake Lawrence added his second try and converted that from the sideline, too. Sadly, Bedford were able to field the ball from the last up-and-under of the game and held on for a precious win. Captain, Joe Baker was thrilled at the performance if not the result: “The lads responded brilliantly today against one of the better teams in the League. There’s a real momentum building which I’m confident will soon deliver the victories the squad deserves. I can’t believe we didn’t win today but I’m delighted with the effort that every member of the squad is putting in.” Comments are closed.
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