Bedford Blues v Nottingham Rugby

21 March 2026 | Goldington Road | Elior Champ Rugby

Nottingham put in a gritty all round team performance to claim their first win at Goldington Road since November 2016. Having allowed Bedford to claw back from a 21 point deficit to draw in the return fixture at The Bay earlier in the season, the Archers were resolute in defending their lead this time to see out the 14-10 victory.

Nottingham captain Jack Dickinson summed up the determined effort of his side: “It’s a class result for us. We’ve put in a lot of hard work through the last couple of weeks. It didn’t always look pretty today but we put the hard work in and we got the result so we’re really pleased with that.”

In the corresponding fixture last season Bedford racked up 12 tries in a rampant performance and there were fears history could be repeating itself when Dean Adamson, terroriser-in-chief of the Archers in that match, opened the scoring for the hosts inside two minutes. Scrum half Alex Day darted down the short side from a lineout on halfway and put in the grubber to release the pacy winger to dot down near the corner. Michael Le Bourgeois converted.

Nottingham were determined not to allow that to set the tone for the game, however, and were then able to apply pressure of their own. It looked like it might come to nothing, though, as they spilled the ball as the maul was advancing on the Bedford goal line. That error was compounded by an early push at the scrum so the hosts could clear with a free kick.

But Nottingham were back on the attack moments later, set up by a glorious 50:22 by Gwyn Parks. This time the visitors made no mistake as James Cherry bowled over the line from 10 metres out and Parks levelled the scores.

It looked like the pendulum would swing back the way of the home side almost immediately but a combination of both Nottingham wingers, Wilf McCarthy – a late call up to the starting XV after an injury to Harry Graham in the warm up – and Luke Rokomoce just managed to force Louis James into touch near the corner flag.

The remainder of the half was played largely in the midfield until the hosts threatened in the closing minutes but they were prevented from scoring when, first, the Archers were able to rip the ball in the tackle then, when Bedford came again they were held up over the line, keeping the score at Bedford Blues 7-7 Nottingham come the interval.

The Blues remained in the ascendency at the start of the second period as they went close following a line break orchestrated by forwards Ilan Evans and Craig Wright. But Nottingham had their chance too after some lovely hands in both the pick up and offload on the left wing by Sam Green saw the visitors into the 22. Parks tried to find Michael Green with the cross-field kick but the ball just went dead before the flanker could reach it.

Bedford started to up the pressure towards the midway point of the half. The Archers were needing to keep their discipline as they began to give away a few penalties in dangerous areas. Nottingham were able to stop a maul in the corner from one penalty so, when the whistle went again, Le Bourgeois opted for the posts to nudge the hosts back ahead.

But any hopes from the home fans that their side would be able to build on that momentum were immediately quashed when the Archers replied instantly, with Cherry driving over from close range for his second try of the match, taking his team-leading tally to 14 for the season. That put his side ahead for the first, and ultimately final, time in the match and Parks extended the lead.

Craig Hammond’s men were determined not to see their lead slip this time and put in a Herculean effort to protect their advantage for the remainder of the game. Dickinson called out how the defence has been such a focus: “It’s something we’ve been working on a lot this year, working hard for each other. We stick to what we’ve been doing really well, with our basics, with our scrum and our maul, then giving opportunities for our backs to have a rip.

“They got through a couple of times but we worked hard to get back and scramble to win the ball back for us and that just epitomises the effort that we’ve put in.”