Melrose 19 - 17 Bedford Blues: Melrose roar back to win thriller

Melrose came back from the dead to shock English Championship side Bedford Blues and snatch a stunning victory in the British and Irish Cup that was as unlikely as it was richly deserved.

The Blues thought they had done enough by cruising to a three-try and 17-point lead by half time, emphasising their coach’s rather patronising pre-match comments that he was sure Melrose were a good team even though he didn’t know much about them.

Well, Bedford know now just how good Melrose can be when the mood takes them, and how a never-say-die Borders spirit can transform a team’s attitude and performance from hopeless to inspiring in the blink of an eye.

It didn’t look like that in the first half when Bedford, who are challenging for a place in the English Premiership, toyed with an ineffectual Melrose, who were representing the best of Scottish club rugby. Bedford conrolled the game and could have scored more than three tries if they had been less cavalier with the huge amount of possession they enjoyed.

Then came the second half, when Melrose suddenly flipped from bad to brilliant, scoring their own three tries before grabbing the win with a touchline conversion that was the last kick of the game.

They celebrated joyously while Bedford were shell shocked and open mouthed, wishing they had found out a little more about their opponents before the journey north and wondering if it had been a good idea to make eight changes from the team that put five tries past Championship rivals Plymouth in their last game.

There was no hint of what was to come as the visitors went straight for the jugular, stand-off Jamie Lennard choosing to kick for the corner rather than take a simple three points from a penalty inside the 22. The Blues won the lineout and the maul powered over the line for lock Mike Howard to ground the ball. Lennard converted with less than three minutes on the clock.

Melrose didn’t panic but looked shakey and sluggish. Bedford stepped up a gear as left winger Handre Schmidt streaked over for a second try.

Blues winger David Vincent was cutting a swathe through the Melrose defence at every opportunity. When home tighthead prop Nick Beavon was yellow carded for blatantly killing the ball, the mismatch in numbers meant it was relatively easy for full back Mark Kohler to slide over for a third try.

Kohler almost set up another minutes later, but Beford were beginning to get careless and the final pass went down. With more than half an hour gone, Melrose at last gained territory with some intelligent kicking, but Bedford still didn’t look too troubled and retained a threat that could be delivered from any area. Melrose just couldn’t get it right. Scrum-half Bruce Colvine broke from a scrum but wasted a pass by firing it over his winger’s head. Stand off Andrew Skeen intercepted a loose pass but then gave it straight back. Graeme Dodds took a crash ball and blasted a huge hole in the Bedford defensive line but the offload went astray to leave the half-time score a dispiriting 17-0 to the visitors.

After the break Melrose ensured they were not caught cold as they had been at the start and Bedford had to backpedal. Colvine took a quick tap, Skeen rolled out of a tackle and Joe Helps almost reached the line before the ball was recycled for hooker Alun Walker to score.

Melrose’s blood was up and and the English team were rattled. Melrose kept the intensity up, stringing together a succession of passes before Crawford claimed the try. Skeen converted to bring Melrose within five points.

Tempers boiled over and the referee had to talk to both skippers to keep a lid on what had developed into a knife-edge match. Bedford held possession for a while, but didn’t seem to have the confidence or the skill they had demonstrated in the first half and couldn’t find any way through the Melrose defence.

Melrose, meanwhile, were growing in confidence and ideas but the Bedford defence remained firm. Another flare-up resulted in Lennard being sent to the bin with five minutes left. Melrose threw everything at the depleted Blues and replacement Scott McCormick was cut down just a metre from the line.

Bedford cleared but Melrose came roaring back as the clock ticked down. A long distance kick and chase put them back in the danger zone and when they took a scrum against the head the ball went wide for Allan Dodds to slide in at the corner for the equalising try two minutes into injury time. Skeen’s conversion from the touchline just cleared the bar to win the game.

Scorers: Melrose Tries: Walker, Crawford, A Dodds. Cons: Skeen 2. Bedford Tries: Howard, Schmidt, Kohler. Cons: Lennard.

Melrose: F Thomson, A Dodds, J Murray, B Dick, J Helps, A Skeen, B Colvine, C Keen, A Walker, N Beavon, G Elder, P Ecclkes, G Dodds, D Crawford, R Miller. Subs: R Ferguson for Walker 68, R McLeod for Keen 79, S Johnson for Eccles 62, G Runciman for Crawford 62, S McCormick for Elder 72, S Wight for Dick 52, C Murray for Murray 68.

Bedford: M Kohler, D Vincent, A Awenat, I Vass, H Schmidt, J Lennard, S Liebenberg, S Walsh, C Locke, P Boulton, S Pailor, M Howard, B Johnson, A Rae, D Barrell. Subs: K Speed for Locke 41, N Steenkamp for Walsh 52, P Tupai for Pailor 52, A Price for Liebenberg 60, T Bedford for Awenat 68, J Bassett for Schmidt 72.