Lee Bircham’s Bedford Town side sit top of Southern League Central Division One after two hard fought wins over the bank holiday weekend.
First, Bedford Town beat Hadley 1-0 away from home; Shane Bush scoring the only goal of the game as Bedford squeezed past the Barnet outfit in a huge win Lee Bircham’s Eagles.
A first half header from Shane Bush was enough to win the game and take Bedford Town to nine points from nine.
The game was played in tough conditions as thunder and lightning loomed, but Bedford started the game brightly and there were chances for Adam Watkins and Louis Walsh.
Nathan McDonald had to make some saves early on and kept things close. One notable chance for Hadley came and went as McDonald was there to block it.
A minute later, the Eagles took the lead. A free kick was cleared to Louis Walsh and his cross was met in the air by Shane Bush who headed the ball past the Hadley goalkeeper to give the Eagles the advantage.
The first half ended with Bedford 1-0 ahead. There were numerous chances for either side, but none were scored as the Eagles took the lead into the interval.
The home side had a great chance early on in the second half. From a corner, the ball was sent goal bound but well saved by McDonald before being eventually cleared by the Eagles.
Bedford had to be resilient at the back and were dealing with everything thrown at them. Nathan McDonald was saving all he could, and the back line were staying strong.
The Eagles had the chance to kill the game deep into injury time as Archie McClelland was played through with a fantastic ball, but his effort went just wide. This didn’t make much of a difference though as the Eagles held on for a massive 1-0 win.
Bank Holiday Monday victory
Bedford Town then followed up that tight victory with a similarly close win against Biggleswade FC on Monday.
The game got off to an end-to-end start, but it was Bedford who took the lead early on. A counter attack from Bedford saw the ball find Louis Walsh who outmuscled his man and took the ball round the goalkeeper before slotting it away.
It was an even first half, but Bedford were just edging it. The Eagles pressure paid off yet again as they got a second in the thirty-second minute. Dominic Morgan-Griffiths won the ball in midfield and played it to Louis Walsh, and he got the ball to Ryan Blake who finished calmly to double Bedford’s advantage.
Bedford were piling on the pressure before half time in the hunt for a third and there were chances for Ryan Blake, Kyle Connolly, and Adam Watkins but nothing was converted with the Eagles leading 2-0 at the break.
The second half was more of the same as both teams were pressuring. Biggleswade FC had clearly ramped up a gear in the second half and were looking to get back into the game.
With just over under fifteen minutes to go, the Eyrie tenants did get one back. They pressured Bedford from a corner until the ball fell to Dan Akubuine who blasted it home to get Biggleswade back in the game.
The last few minutes were a tough one for the Eagles. Adam Hunt had the perfect chance to equalise deep into injury time, but Nathan McDonald saved well as Bedford held on for a 2-1 success.
A superb win for Lee Bircham’s side who were victorious over Biggleswade, and with two wins over the bank holiday weekend and four wins from four in the league, it’s been a superb start to the season.
Words by Zac Neal
