Goals from Archie Jones, Ben Stevens and the in-form Josh Allen helped Real Bedford to an FA Trophy third qualifying round victory against Stamford at the Ledger Stadium on Saturday (4 October).
After 11 days off, the Pirates resumed their increasingly good form with a 3-1 victory over their fellow Southern League Premier Central opponents to progress to the first round proper of the FA Trophy, set to take place on 25 October.
In progressing, Real beat last season’s effort where they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Bowers and Pitsea of a higher division, but they will now look forward to Monday’s draw after reaching a round further this season.
It is also their fourth straight win in all competitions, as Rob Sinclair’s side gather some momentum while Stamford – who are bottom of the Southern League Premier Central table – remain winless so far this season.
It took 23 minutes of possession football for Real to open their account for the afternoon and it was Archie Jones who would do so, as he broke clear down the right wing, and showed incredible ingenuity in nodding in from the floor after an initial scrambled effort was saved.
However, the two sides would go into half-time level, after Fletcher Toll beat Tyler McGregor to the ball and slotted home from a Jaden Charles cross to restore parity.
Jones was once again on hand in the early throws of the second period as he shot just wide of Nykah Liburd-Hines upright, but within minutes, Real were ahead once again through in-form Allen.
Josh Allen scored a hat-trick in Real’s last outing at Banbury United in the league, and seems to be slotting into the prolific striking shoes of Bedford’s attacking line well, as a slick one-touch move was coolly slotted home by the forward.
A curling third from Ben Stevens put the game to bed after 65 minutes, and other than a late effort from Luca Alonzi getting chalked off for the visitors, Stamford never looked like getting back into it as they suffered another loss in an alarmingly poor start to their season.
For Real, attention turns to local affairs as they travel to Creasey Park to face AFC Dunstable in their opening fixture of the Bedfordshire Senior Cup on Tuesday (7 October) before hosting Barwell in league action back at the Ledger Stadium next Saturday.
The draw for the first round proper of the FA Trophy takes place at 1pm on Monday 6 October.
