MATCH REPORT | Bedford Blues 17-47 Saracens Men

Saracens Men secured an opening victory of pre-season, thanks to a second-half surge against an impressive Bedford Blues side.

In front of a packed-out Goldington Road crowd, Sarries were looking to quieten a boisterous crowd, with Phil Brantingham securing an early turnover to lay down an early marker in a Saracens shirt.

It was Bedford who made the most of the opening minutes though, with Alfie Garside racing down the wing and into the Saracens 22.

The hosts were looking for an opening score, but the Sarries defence held out well, as the Blues were forced into an error right on the try line.

Saracens were looking for a way out and they found it thanks to a monster nudge from new fly-half Fergus Burke, who looked composed throughout his first half in Saracens colours.

With Burke pinning Bedford back with the boot, Saracens looked to launch their first powerful attack of the evening, with Andy Onyeama-Christie crashing up towards the line. Sarries kept it tight around the fringes and, whilst it looked like Bedford had managed to snaffle possession back, Tom Willis found himself in the right place at the right time to open the scoring on the night.

Burke then added the conversion for his first points in Saracens colours, before chasing down his own booming kick through to force the hosts into a sliced clearance.

Bedford though were imposing themselves on the match in the first half too, and they continued to find opportunities, with Sarries falling foul of the referee’s whistle.

Bedford were looking dangerous too, with Lucas Titherington bursting through the defensive line.

The hosts continued to apply the pressure and found their way over the line through Jac Arthur to level proceedings.

That try seemed to give the Blues even more confidence, as they rode out the Sarries pressure from an Elliot Daly break and put the pressure on again themselves. The Sarries defence held firm though, but the pressure finally told at the end of the half, with Luke Frost going over.

With the final act of the half, Sarries looked to add their second through Tom Willis, but the Blues defence held out again to deny the back-row the score.

At the start of the second half, the hosts continued to turn the screw, with Alfie Garside bursting free down the wing for a third try of the half, before Saracens lost Alex Lozowski to the bin, as the referee ran out of patience with backchat from Sarries.

The Men in Black needed a response, and they found it shortly after, as Onyeama-Christie folded the Bedford attacker with a monster hit to force a knock-on. From there, Sarries spun the ball wide to Brandon Jackson and the winger took off down the wing, racing in from 70m to close the gap to 5.

Sarries were still under pressure though, with Ivan Van Zyl having to be alert after a hack through from Dean Adamson put the pressure on in the backfield.

Bedford were continuing to apply the pressure, but Sarries found a crucial answer with a scrum penalty that allowed Burke to clear the lines.

Sarries were still a player down, but Onyeama-Christie decided it was time to take matters into his own hands, as he spotted a gap in the Blues defence and broke free to dive in under the posts. Burke’s conversion edged his side into the lead and from there, Sarries looked to turn the screw, with Elliott forcing his opposite number back over his own try line and they did just that with a penalty try to extend the lead.

With a raft of fresh faces onto the field, including Angus Hall, Charlie Bracken and Louie Johnson, Saracens continued to up the tempo, as they began to take the game away from the Blues.

Another powerful maul put the pressure on, before Josh Hallett picked a sumptuous line to glide in under the sticks.

Bedford continued to stay in the fight though, with Bracken averting the danger with a monstrous clearance kick from his own try line, before Sarries forced a turnover in midfield.

With Johnson orchestrating things at fly-half, Sarries continued to put the hammer down, as Charlie Bracken kept the tempo high and found Onyeama-Christie to twist over for his second of the night!

Sarries weren’t done there though and it was the young guns who showed a glimpse of what’s to come, with Tayo Adegbemile picking up a loose ball and offloading to Angus Hall who skated through to wrap up the victory for Sarries.