Fixture

It has become an expensive habit that Beddau gift-wrap a try to their opponents.  Met were given three!

The day was cold but with bright sunshine that had, happily, made a pitch that had been flooded, playable.  Met were quick from the blocks and placed a penalty to touch.  The possession was cycled well and Beddau were penalised for interference giving outside half Evan Lloyd a simple three-point starter.

Beddau rose to the challenge and though losing Rhys Owens to the blood bin for a time made inroads that tested the Met defence.  Unfortunately offloads were inaccurate and handling errors also let the students off the hook until, to general exasperation, a pass was picked off.  Several Met players lined up to take advantage and it was scrum half Ellis Bevan`s try converted by Evan Lloyd.

The set-back notwithstanding it was still Beddau enjoying most of the play but when Met came away from a lineout Beddau captain Jordan Goodwin became entangled in a pile up and was judged to have been sufficiently vigorous in his efforts to release himself to earn a ten-minute`s cooling off period.

Beddau held out for much of the time but a well worked lineout move split the midfield and Ellis Bevan was on hand for his second score with Evan Lloyd again adding the extras.  There was a cutting edge to Met`s play and they moved the ball quickly from a scrum with centre Ivanisivic cutting the line and providing the scoring pass for co-centre Tom Morgan.  Evan Lloyd converted.

Adam Ashford then saw a gap he could exploit and his thrilling carry covered around 70 metres.  Brendon Clarke came from his wing to keep the move alive and with Callum Wheeler also involved the ball was transferred to James Davies to score in the corner.  It should have been 5-24 at half-time but Beddau, on being told time was up attempted to float the ball out of play.  The gentle nudge was caught by full back Andrew Nurse who immediately began an attack that ended with Zac Clow giving Evan Lloyd some more target practice.  This succeeded too and the interval came at 5-31.

As the second half began it was Beddau`s turn to produce an attack from the base of a scrum.  Hywel Chatham linked with Adam Ashford and the bullocking Sam Edwards came onto his shoulder to complete the try.  Some innate generosity resides in the Beddau back line and while Hywel Chatham was taking the ball into the heart of the Met defence his offload saw winger Jack Silvester sent clear for an interception try converted by a replacement outside half.  Zac Clow was next on the scoresheet and this owed much to the counter attacking skills and swift passing that outpaced the Beddau defence.  The conversion made it 45 -10.

To their credit Beddau hadn`t given up and a series of penalties ended with a tap and go that saw hooker Will Haly grab a try that Hywel Chatham converted and there was still time for Adam Ashford to seize an interception and race over for Hywel Chatham to add the points.  The bonus point is at least something Beddau may be happy to cling to.

It is ironic that Beddau seem to consistently meet Met at their strongest.  This wasn`t the case here.  Yes, they were bright, inventive and quick but of their 6 tries Beddau had a hand, or foot, in three of them and a surprising amount of the Students` time was spent in defence.  Beddau, though, were often slipshod in the attacks they created and lacked patience.