Bedford Town lost back-to-back Southern League games for the first time this season as they fell 3-1 at home to mid table Barwell at The Eyrie on Saturday.
It was also the first league defeat for Town on their new 3G pitch at The Eyrie as they capped a poor week in league action to drop to a still commendable fourth in Southern League Premier Central.
After a midweek 2-0 loss at Banbury Utd, Lee Bircham would have been looking for a response from his men who have started this season so well, but they came unstuck against Barwell on home turf.
Read: Bedford Town lose league winning streak at Banbury Utd
After the Eagles had the first chance of the game, via the head of Ryan Blake, they were left with an uphill task as Deen Master opened the scoring for the visitors after just five minutes.
A cross from the right wing went over the head of everyone and found Master on the left channel, and despite him overrunning the ball to the byline, his shot managed to squeeze between the near post and McDonald in the Eagles goal to find the net.
Ekow Coker had an equaliser ruled out not long after, but the hero from the Leiston encounter was subbed off injured on the half hour mark, before Bedford Town found an equaliser.
The returning Carl Mensah was the goalscorer at the second attempt as the towering centre back got on the end of a cross from Blake to restore parity.
Two late strikes down Eagles
Both sides were neck and neck heading into the final quarter, but a 76th minute strike from Barwell’s Ethan Hill proved to be decisive.
Hill was on the end of a tantalising cross to strike home but the result could have been very different had the referee awarded Ryan Blake a penalty with a little under ten minutes to go, but he waved away the vociferous appeals.
Riley Moloney, a new signing for the visitors, wrapped up all three points in stoppage time as Bedford Town dropped to fourth in the table.
Victories for new league leaders, Kettering Town, Stourbridge and Stamford take them ahead of Lee Bircham’s side.
Bedford Town may benefit from a week off next week, before returning to action on 2 November as they travel to Bromsgrove Sporting, who are currently in the relegation zone, before hosting St Ives Town the following weekend.
