The Barbarians produced a typical display of sublime handling to overwhelm a young Bedford Blues side in the 82nd East Midlands Mobbs Memorial Match at Goldington Road.

The match was played in honour of Lt Col Edgar Mobbs, the former England, Northampton, East Midlands, Olney and Bedford Modern School wing, who was killed leading an assault on an enemy machine gun post at Passchendale in July 1915.

Bedford provided the opposition for the second time having taken over the fixture from East Midlands last season and were spirited, if outgunned, opponents in an entertaining game that included hat-tricks for Barbarians debutants Ross Samson and David Jackson.

Four of the tries came from the Barbarians inside the first ten minutes in a clear statement of intent from the famous invitation club that they were going to play a high-tempo game.

The Barbarians were committed to running the ball at all times, often from some improbable positions in defence, but Bedford played their part in a free-flowing contest that was perfect for the occasion, scoring seven tries themselves.

Fylde wing Nick Royle, who was on loan at Sale Sharks earlier in the season, made his mark by following up his own chip ahead for the opener after barely three minutes and then making the break that saw skipper Craig Hammond sustain the attack and his Nottingham club-mate Luke Sherriff score the second.

Bedford barely had time to catch their breath before Samson splintered their defence with a superb break through the middle and Scotland international centre Andy Henderson then sliced through for the fourth.

England Under-20 international Rory Clegg, inventive at fly-half, converted three of the tries before Bedford found their feet and pulled back two tries in four minutes.

Wing Duncan Taylor went over on the overlap for the first and centre James Knight collected his own chip for the second which was improved by former England international Nick Walshe, who made his Barbarians debut against Blackheath last month.

But the Barbarians were quickly back into their stride. Former Scotland lock Iain Fullarton crossed from close range and Edinburgh-bound Samson galloped over for his second after a lovely break from full-back Martyn Thomas.

Nottingham wing Jackson, one of 14 newcomers in the Barbarians squad, marked his debut with stunning solo try which came from a scintillating burst down the left touchline.

The Barbarians were 43-12 clear at the break but Bedford pulled back five points within four minutes of the re-start when skipper Rory McKay emerged from a ruck to score their third try.

The Barbarians' response was swift and devastating with Royle showing devastating pace to power over for their eighth try and the ninth soon followed when Samson completed his hat-trick by rounding off a break from hooker Joe Duffey.

Jackson then collected a pass from Hal Luscombe, who has made five appearances this season for the Warriors, on his own 22 and going over for his second try with a mazy run.

Full-back Thomas, who tormented Bedford's defence all evening, got on the score-sheet himself when he cut clean through .though Bedford responded when Knight crossed for his second.

Luscombe then showed some of the class that has helped him gain 16 caps for Wales, by opening the Blues defence in order to allow Jackson to complete his hat trick. However, the match was far from over, and Bedford finished strongly with replacement scrum-half Darryl Veenendaal crossing twice in three minutes.

There was still time for right wing Mike Allen to outpace the Barbarians' defence for the final try of a breathless affair.

Bedford Blues: 15 Tom Foden (Anthony Fenner 62); 14 Mike Allen, 13 Will Lawson, 12 James Knight , 11 Duncan Taylor; 10 Nick Walshe (B Davies 51), 9 Will Chudley (Darryl Veenendaal 64); 1 Andy Brown (Sam Walsh 62), 2 Greg Sammons (C Locke 51), 3 James Graham, 4 Phil Hoy, 5 Scott Hobson (Adam Dempsey 56), 6 Dan Falvey (Jack Miccans 56), 7 Brett Daynes, 8 Rory McKay (captain).

Scorers: T: Knight 2, Veenendaal 2, Taylor, McKay, Allen C: Fenner 3, Walshe, Davies.

Barbarians: 15 Martyn Thomas (Newport Gwent Dragons); 14 Nick Royle (Fylde), 13 Andy Henderson (Glasgow Warriors and Scotland), 12 Jonny Kennedy (Sale Sharks), 11 David Jackson (Nottingham); 10 Rory Clegg (Newcastle Falcons), 9 Ross Sampson (Tynedale); 1 Darren Jacques (Redruth), 2 Joe Duffey (Nottingham), 3 Stuart Turner (Sale Sharks and England), 4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), 5 Iain Fullarton (London Scottish and Scotland), 6 Craig Hammond (Nottingham), 7 Luke Sherriff (Nottingham), 8 Henno Venter (Coventry).

Replacements: Hal Lacombe (Worcester Warriors and Wales) for Kennedy 40, James Shanahan (Cambridge) for Henderson 62, Darren Wilson (Preston Grasshoppers) for Samson 56, Laurence Ovens (Bath) for Jacques 51, Dan Rosen (Oxford University) for Duffey 56, Henry Head (Richmond) for Fullarton 51, John Dalziel (Melrose) for Venter 57.

Scorers: T: Samson 3, Jackson 3, Royle 2, Sherriff, Henderson, Fullarton, Thomas C: Clegg 8

Referee: Mr David Rose (Birmingham)

Attendance: 1,606