Bedford Blues 28 Leeds Carnegie 45: Rowan asks for more of the same as Edwards’s young guns come out firing to stun Bedford

The victory was even more unlikely given the start Diccon Edwards’s men made to the game as Bedford kicked penalties to the corner and battered their opponents’ try line.

Chris Walker went to the bin after just six minutes and in his absence tries from Don Barrell and Josh Bassett gave the Blues a 10-0 lead.

A cricket score looked inevitable when Joe Ford put the restart straight into touch handing the initiative back to the home side.

The fly-half redeemed himself minutes later with a perfectly weighted chip to the corner. The Blues won the resulting lineout but Darryl Veenendaal’s box kick was gathered under pressure by Stevie McColl.

Strong running from Michael Stevenson put Iain Thornley in for the first of his brace, but Tommy Bell could not convert.It was his only blemish with the boot as the full-back landed a 20-point haul.

Tom Denton was then sent to the bin as the pressure once again mounted, but Bedford paid Leeds a backhanded compliment as James Pritchard slotted a penalty instead of going for the corner.

Three Bell penalties in the last 10 minutes of the first half gave the visitors an unlikely one-point advantage at the break.

The second half lacked none of the drama of the first as the lead changed hands four times.

It was Bedford who took the initiative with a penalty by substitute Jamie Lennard with the visitors regaining it as a Ford bomb was fumbled and McColl raced 45 metres down the hill.

Thornley epitomised the Headingley side’s spirit with a try-saving tackle on Lennard holding him up over the try line.

The respite was temporary. Leeds conceded a penalty try and a second score to Bassett who outpaced Ford to claim his brace, to give Bedford, with 14 minutes of time remaining, a seven-point advantage. This, though, was a day when Leeds refused to be beaten and the visitors stunned the Blues with 24 unanswered points. Thornley carried two defenders over the line and Bell’s conversion made it all square.

Robbie Shaw clinched the bonus point finishing a move which involved Thornley and McColl. A fourth Bell penalty gave Leeds a two-score advantage before McColl added a fifth try with the final move of a memorable match in which Leeds at last showed their potential.

Stand-in captain Jacob Rowan said: “I thought the guys were great today. We were in some trouble but we never lost belief in each other. The challenge now is to keep that level of performance.”

Bedford: Pritchard (Scmidt 40),Vincent, Dodge, Bedford, Bassett, Sharp(Lennard 38),Veenendaal (Liebenberg 72); Walsh, Locke (Allen 61), Seal (Boulton 49), Pailor (Tomes 40), Howard (Tupia 62), Rae, Harding, Barrell.

Leeds: Bell, Stephenson (Blackett 62), Thornley, Barker, McColl, Ford, Hampson(Shaw70); Denman (Lockwood 66),Nilsen (Freer 62), Young (Swainston 57),Denton (Beck 54), Hohneck (Hemingway 70), Barrow, Walker, Rowan.

Referee: R Cambell.