Bedford and Lightning secure first wins of the season

We round up all the action from Northampton Saints’ partner club – Bedford Blues – and our joint Saints / Loughborough Lightning side in the Championship and Premier 15s competitions…

BEDFORD BLUES 31-23 DONCASTER KNIGHTS

Blues put their disappointing season opener against Jersey Reds behind them this weekend as they returned to Goldington Road rejuvenated, coupling three smart tries with 16 points from the boot of Will Maisey to seal their first league win of the term against Doncaster Knights

Six Saints lined up for the hosts, with Manny Iyogun, Brandon Nansen, and Tom Litchfield starting the clash, while Ed Prowse, Connor Tupai and Ethan Grayson came off the bench.

Maisey got the scoring started with two quick penalties pushing Blues ahead, but Doncaster hit straight back – with former Saints Sam Olver and Gareth Denman swinging the score in Doncaster’s favour with a penalty and then a converted try. 

The home side were soon back on the attack, sending Pat Tapley over under the sticks, but Doncaster responded again just before the half-time whistle blew to send Alex Dolly over and send the game into the break at 11-17 in Knights’ favour. 

But Blues wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard after the restart, with Maisey finding Rich Lane with a brilliantly placed looping pass to put the latter under the posts after just three minutes. 

Maisey’s conversion put Bedford back ahead and the home side would stretch their lead as the hour mark came around, sending another former Saint Tui Uru over the whitewash off the back on the lineout before Maisey added another two points from the tee. 

Six points from Olver’s boot would bring the game back within two points though as Doncaster applied the pressure but Maisey was metronomic from the tee and responded with two smart penalties of his own to seal the win for Bedford. 

DMP DURHAM SHARKS 0-59 LOUGHBOROUGH LIGHTNING

After a tricky start to their season, Loughborough finally got themselves off the mark with a convincing 59-0 win to claim maximum points at the Darlington Arena against DMP Durham Sharks. 

It took Lightning just six minutes to strike, sending Megan Davey over off the back of a maul for their first score before a dominant showing from the forwards ended in the side doubling their score through Iona Antwis. 

And Loughborough would add a quick trio of tries on the half-hour mark, sending Isla Alejandro over the in the corner before more forward pressure saw the Lightning pack rumble over twice before the half-time whistle blew. 

DMP held firm after the restart, keeping Loughborough our for most of the third quarter, but eventually the pressure from Lightning proved too much and Detysha Harper sniped over from close range before another rolling maul took the score to 45-0. 

But Lightning weren’t finished with the scores; the away side kept the pressure on, sending first Georgina Tasker and then last season’s top try-scorer Lark Davies over before the final whistle blew to seal the side’s first win of the season.