Three, they say, is the magic number.

Bedford were on course to lose this first of a dead-rubber cup double until Duncan Taylor crossed the whitewash in the third minute of injury time for his hat-trick try, and James Pritchard, who had missed his two previous conversions made this one count to secure the win by two points.

It would have been hard on Blues had they lost because they looked the more determined to play rugby whereas the Wizards were heavily reliant on the boot of Jamie Murphy to conjure up the points.

A first half, in which Bedford should have scored more than their five points, gave way to a frustrating second session where penalties were awarded to Aberavon in the ruck with alarming regularity – 16 in total.

An incident packed opening saw Blues signal their attacking intentions with Myles Dorrian orchestrating a flurry of quick passes across the width of the pitch.

Anglo-Welsh clashes always come with a little added spice and in this 15th meeting between the two sides Paul Tupai gave no quarter when he locked horns with Richard Morris, sparking a near 30-man rumble on the touchline, for which neither were penalised.

On nine minutes, and with Bedford encamped in Aberavon’s half, Nick Walshe passed to winger Taylor who found the corner for his first score of the afternoon, but Pritchard’s conversion struck the post.

The score should have been reduced soon after with the Welsh side’s first foray into Blues’ territory. The visitors were awarded a penalty when referee David Walker adjudging Bedford to have collapsed a scrum, but Murphy kicked wide from inside the 22.

With good fortune seemingly on their side in the opening quarter of an hour Bedford found themselves with a man advantage when Chris Tossell was shown a yellow card for not releasing, which seemed small fry compared to the earlier punch-up.

Blues should have made more of the opportunity but Nick Walshe dropped the ball yards from the goal line after Taylor had snake-hipped his way through two challenges to offload.

No sooner had Tossell returned then Walshe capped a disappointing personal five minutes by committing the same infringement and getting sin-binned. Murphy made no mistake this time to close the deficit.

Bedford should have been punished after the half hour mark when the returning Tossell’s grubber kick was chased down and kicked forward by Murphy but Taylor and Ian Davey covered superbly and managed to scramble the ball into touch.

Blues relinquished the lead for the first time in the second minute after the restart from a penalty directly in front of the posts 40 yards out for which Murphy’s kick was straight and true.

In the ruck the overly fussy Mr Walker again awarded a penalty to the Wizards’ seven minutes later and the kick was converted to give them a six point lead.

The needle in this tussle returned from the kick-off as Aaran Bray speared Ian Davey and then there was bemusement, not least from Wizards’ replacement Marc Breeze, who had barely been on the pitch before he was sin-binned.

Then, as play continued on the far side, Marco Cecere and Neil White opted for a spot of wrestling for which Mr Walker called together the two captains.

When the Bedford were allowed to move the ball they looked dangerous and Taylor went over for his second of the match with the killer pass being supplied by scrum half Walshe. Pritchard’s conversion was short.

From the restart Brett Daynes was sin-binned for a late hit and in the next five minutes needless penalties against the Blues were kicked by Murphy. But as his next sailed wide four minutes from time, offering hope to Bedford.

As the game ticked into the 83rd minute Tupai emerged from the scrum with the ball to find Dorrian, who in turn passed to Taylor for his hat-trick try and sixth of the season.

Pritchard made it third time lucky with his conversion and that was enough to seal the win.