The city derby saw Milton Keynes come out on top

Milton Keynes came out on top in the inter-city clash with Bletchley at Manor Fields on Saturday, winning the clash 38-19.

With packed touchlines and plenty of support for both sides, the atmosphere was set for a great contest. Milton Keynes came out of the blocks strongly, with a couple of quick tries giving the visiting supporters plenty to cheer about. Bletchley struggled to settle early on, with discipline at the breakdown proving costly. The penalty count rapidly approached double figures, with repeated infringements for hands in the ruck giving Milton Keynes valuable opportunities to apply pressure.

The visitors capitalised on the penalties, repeatedly working their way back into the Bletchley 22 and eventually forcing their way over the line to stretch their advantage.

Bletchley responded just before half-time when Josh Bradley powered his way through the defence and bulldozed over the whitewash to give Bletchley a much-needed score. Woods added the conversion, reducing the deficit to 19-7.

Milton Keynes continued to control proceedings after the restart, moving the ball well and finding gaps in the Bletchley defence. Their pressure told as they unlocked the home defence on several occasions, adding further tries to extend their lead.

However, Bletchley refused to give up.In the final ten minutes, the home side finally found their groove and produced some of their best rugby of the afternoon. Two well-worked tries in the corner, first from Bletchley’s Jack Sharp and then winger Olie Comery, gave the home supporters something to cheer about and brought Bletchley back into the contest.

For Bletchley though, the deficit was ultimately too large to overcome and Milton Keynes held on to secure a 36-19 victory, leaving with a valuable bonus-point win in the local derby.