Blues had to negotiate losing three players in the first 40 minutes to injury, but were able to battle through and eventually claim a 34-18 victory.

 

On Ladies Day at Bedford, it was the home side who started much the quicker, with Alfie Garside opening his Bedford account before Dean Adamson got on the end of a grubber through to make it 12-0.

 

Louis James had gone off between those two scores, while Michael Le Bourgeois was also forced off midway through the first half.

Morgan Strong got over for Doncaster before Will Maisey and Russell Barnett exchanged penalties – Blues leading 15-10 at the break.

 

Bedford lost Ed Prowse at half-time, and it was Bennett who started the second-half scoring with a penalty to cut the deficit to two points.

 

The key moment came just before the hour, as Matt Worley picked off a pass and sprinted home, with Maisey’s conversion making it 22-13.

 

Adamson grabbed his second to consolidate the advantage, despite Strong also scoring a second for Doncaster.

 

And it was Bedford who had the final say, a fifth try coming from Craig Wright to seal the win.

 

Rayer was understandably elated.

 

He said: “There was a lot of disruption losing Louis James early on, Michael Le Bourgeois shortly afterwards, and Ed Prowse at half-time. Fair play to the lads who came on, we had to show some character and we did that.

 

“The scoreboard probably looks a bit flattering, but we’ll take five points at home all day long. Doncaster, first half, if they’d have caught a few balls it would have been a problem because their shape caused us a lot of problems. We dodged a few bullets. On the other side of the coin, we looked controlled at times and took points when it really mattered.

 

“We knew we’d have to match Doncaster physically and our scrum and lineout were weapons. We did really well in those areas.”

For Doncaster coach Joe Ford, it was a case of what might have been, admitting that the intercept try was the turning point.

 

He said: “Bedford had a really fast start and we had a poor one. We showed great fight to get back in it with a try and a couple of penalties. Around 60 minutes we started to get a real foothold in the game and threw an intercept that just deflated us.

“The story of the game was that we showed good fight but gifted Bedford too many points too easily. A team like that will run away with it, which they did.”

 

 

Coventry made it five from five but were pushed to the limit by Caldy before Liam Richman’s late penalty proved decisive in a 17-15 win.

 

On a day when defences were mostly on top, it was Caldy who had taken the lead with Tristan Woodman putting Michael Cartmill over for the opening try.

 

Coventry hit back immediately, Tom Hitchcock getting over, with Richman’s conversion ensuring they went into half-time with a narrow 7-5 advantage.

 

Caldy survived ten minutes with hooker Matt Gallagher in the sin-bin and then retook the lead thanks to a mammoth drive from the forwards, with Ollie Hearn getting the ball down.

 

Once again, Coventry responded quickly, this time it was Dan Green, on his Championship debut, who got over, with Richman’s conversion making it 14-12.

 

Lewis Barker slotted a penalty to put the home side ahead once again with 12 minutes remaining, but Richman made no mistake when given the chance to put Cov ahead once again on 74 minutes, with what turned out to be the final points.

 

 

Ealing Trailfinders were at their attacking best as they ran in 14 tries in a stunning 92-0 win over Ampthill.

 

Sitting second in the table behind Coventry, Trailfinders got off to a flying start and never let up.

 

Reuben Bird-Tulloch got the ball rolling with two tries in the first 10 minutes, before Tom Collins got the first of a hat-trick of tries.

Tobi Wilson brought up the bonus point after just 17 minutes, with Jordy Reid, Collins again and Mike Willemse all getting over before half-time as Ealing led 45-0 at the break.

 

They flew out of the blocks in the second half, with Wilson’s second, a try for Will Montgomery and Collins’ hat-trick score all coming in a five-minute flurry.

 

Rayn Smid got over from a rolling maul before Angus Kernohan finished off a fine counter-attacking move. Matt Cornish and Francis Moore scored in quick succession to complete the scoring.

 

 

Cambridge broke new ground with their thrilling victory over Cornish Pirates as they came from behind to run out 29-22 winners.

 

It was Pirates who had taken the lead midway through the first half, skipper Hugh Bokenham crashing over, only for Sam Hanks to respond instantly for the Blood & Sand.

 

Matt Hema put Cambridge in front for the first time, but on the stroke of half-time, Will Gibson got over as the sides went in level at 12-12.

 

After a Louis Grimoldby penalty put Cambridge back in front, Bokenham’s second try restored the visitors’ advantage. They stretched that lead to seven points with five minutes remaining as Iwan Jenkins slotted a penalty but there was plenty of late drama to come.

 

Seb Brownhill got over with Grimoldby converting to level the game before a final try from Archie Vanes, again converted by the fly-half, sealed a famous win for Cambridge.

 

Director of Rugby Richie Williams was understandably thrilled.

 

He said: “I'm delighted for all the players that have worked really hard to get that type of performance. Let's not forget, Pirates finished second in the Championship last season. It's the first victory we've had against a fully professional team so it's a bit of a landmark occasion today.”

 

 

Hartpury RFC produced a dominant display as they ran out 34-19 victors away to Chinnor to go fourth in the table.

 

The two sides came into the game level on points, but it was Hartpury who proved much the stronger, leading 20-0 by half-time.

Two tries in the space of four minutes from Harry Short and Alex Morgan helped them open up a sizable advantage with Harry Bazalgette helping build a lead from the kicking tee.

 

They added two more tries in the first seven minutes of the second half to wrap up the bonus point and lead 34-0, but it was Chinnor who finished the stronger.

 

Max Clementson got them on the board, before two tries in the final minutes made the scoreline look a little closer, but it was Hartpury who came away with the full five points.

 

 

Nottingham produced a fine second-half performance to run away with a 48-14 win away to London Scottish on Friday night.

 

Leading just 14-7 at the break, the Archers were able to pull clear late on for an emphatic success.

 

Ryan Olowofela opened the scoring from the first phase inside five minutes, but Scottish hit straight back through Will Brown.

 

Sam Williams’ first try for Nottingham gave them the half-time advantage with Matt Arden converting and adding a penalty early in the second half to stretch the lead to 10 points.

 

The Exiles cut the deficit through Noah Ferdinand, but from there it was all Nottingham as Sebastian Ferreira got over before a second for Williams brought up the bonus point with 10 minutes remaining.