BRITISH & IRISH CUP POOL ONE
BEDFORD BLUES 12
MUNSTER ‘A’ 16
Johnston puts boot in as Munster A triumph
ELEVEN points from the boot of Bill Johnston were crucial at Goldington Road yesterday, as Munster ‘A’ returned to winning ways in Pool One of the British & Irish Cup with a 16-12 win over Bedford.
Munster were defeated by Bedford at Irish Independent Park last Friday week, but after Johnston edged Peter Malone’s side in front with a third-minute penalty, a converted try from Ciaran Parker guided them towards a 10-0 interval advantage.
Johnston extended their lead with another successful place-kick after the restart, before Bedford opened their account with a 52nd-minute try courtesy of winger Dean Adamson.
Another Johnston penalty settled the Munster nerves once again, and even though Bedford responded through replacement Camilo Parilli-Ocampo on the stroke of full-time, the visiting team emerged with a vital win.
Scorers – Bedford Blues: D Adamson, C Parilli-Ocampo try each, W Hooley con. Munster ‘A’: C Parker try, B Johnston 3 pens, con.
MUNSTER ‘A’ – D Johnston; S Fitzgerald, A McHenry, D McCarthy, L Coombes (J Power 56); B Johnston (C Fitzgerald 78), J Poland; J Loughman, M Sherry (V O’Brien 70), C Parker (R O’Donovan 70); F Wycherley, S McCarthy; S O’Connor (J O’Sullivan 56), G Coombes (E Mintern 67), R Copeland.
BEDFORD BLUES – R Lane (L Dickson 53); R Hutler (H Sheppard 53), O Dodge, M Le Bourgeois, D Adamson; W Hooley, J Burns; S McCarthy (C Parilli-Ocampo 53), T Lindsay (J Fields 65), D Spelman (B Cooper 47); J Onojaife, W Carrick-Smith; P Tupai (A Rae 47), J Buggea, H Worthington (J Williams 47).
REF – E Williams (Wales).