St Ives vs. Bedford Swifts – 9th October 2004
St Ives 5 Bedford Swifts 36
St Ives could well have won this game but for the call of wedding bells for scrum-half Lee Jackson. He and 9 other players were away from league duty against Bedford Swifts (not all wedding guests). Most notably absent were members of the pack and when St Ives lost the first scrum it was apparent that the front row was in for a harrowing afternoon.
Early on, St Ives' cause was not helped by some slack tackling and Bedford soon notched up 3 tries and a penalty.
From then on, to St Ives credit, the flow of points from Bedford was stemmed by some stout tackling and last ditch defence, in which veteran Jason Price, Matt Ball and Steve Burke were particularly prominent. St. Ives even managed a period of pressure themselves towards the end of the first-half and was rewarded by a Vinny Woodward try after several determined runs by the backs.
St Ives played against a strong wind in the second-half and took every opportunity to run
the ball at the opposition given the meagre supply of ball from the lineout and scrums.
A late try and conversion from Bedford following a mistake by St Ives backs was the final act in a gutsy rearguard performance by St Ives.