Bedford Blues narrowly missed out on a bonus five point win away at The Athletic Ground after an apparent try by Paul Tupai was controversially disallowed moments before the final whistle to clinch victory for London Scottish. 

Scottish started the stronger using a bulldozing maul tactic; accouting for three of their four first half tries. A try for Scottish just before half time brought the score to 26-13, but this was by no means the end for the Blues. 

The second half saw Blues increase the energy level and notch three scores through Dean Adamson, Michael Le Bourgeois and Pat Tapley, to add to James Pritchard’s first half effort, while Paul Tupai looked to have grabbed a match-winner at the death. 

With just six minutes on the clock the marauding Matt Williams gathered Daniel Newton’s cross-field kick and galloped between the posts while Peter Lydon added the extras.

Pritchard made small amends with a penalty soon after but the Exiles roared straight back from the restart with PJ Gidlow bustling over. Lydon again converted.

An increasing penalty count was costing Blues but then, midway through the first half, Pritchard touched down after a break and assist from Steffan Jones and Henry Staff respectively. The Canadian international converted his own score but his side had little time to bask in their breakthrough before Exiles skipper Mark Bright flopped onto the whitewash after another monstrous maul. The ever reliable Lydon made it 21-10 to the hosts with the half time whistle drawing near.

Pritchard led a one-man point-scoring mission to keep Blues within reach of the Exiles during the first half and he landed a penalty at the second time of asking to close the deficit to just eight points.

On the stroke of the interval the home pack caused chaos at a Blues scrum, five metres from their own line, with scrum-half Jamie Stevenson just about stretching for the paint. This time Lydon blotted his copybook with the conversion but the inquests were Bedford’s alone at the break.

Whatever was said paid instant dividends as, two minutes in; Pritchard raced clear and unselfishly set Adamson on his way to a gleeful dive between the uprights. The orchestrator of the score sent the conversion kick the same way, but not long following Lydon had grabbed three penalty points back.

Blues were forced in to last-ditch defending and Harry Wells was sent to the bin as they tried to counteract the Scottish lineout drive. Stevenson scored his second from the resulting set-piece throw-in, while Lydon landed a tricky kick, out wide.

There was still fight in the Blues though as centre Michael Le Bourgeois scored with little over ten minutes left to play, the Jerseyman gobbling up a clever dink from Jake Sharp who then skewed the conversion wide. But Mike Rayer's men were not finished as winger Pat Tapley made it a quick-fire double for Bedford, racing down the flank for the bonus point score. 

Again Sharp couldn’t bisect the posts but what appeared the crucial try with two minutes remaining by second row turned flanker Tupai looked to have given the Blues maximum return for their day in the capital. Referee Dean Richards, however, ruled the ball had not been grounded, while the follow-up phase saw Wells knock-on, inches from the post. To add insult to injury the resultant scrum saw Bedford penalised having won the nudge and on the verge of glory only to again be halted by the officials. 

While the chance for last-gasp glory went up in smoke, the improvement from this Bedford side was clear to see. 

For more match day pictures from Nigel Rudgard click here