The Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by a strong and resilient Leighton side, but extended their lead at the top of Southern League Central Division One to four points after North Leigh lost 3-0 at Biggleswade Town.
Bedford took the lead through Shane Bush, but Luke Pyman equalised on the hour mark for Leighton to draw the game.
The game got off to a good start for the Eagles. Albie Hall had a decent chance, but his effort was well saved by Xavi Comas in the Leighton net to deny his former teammate.
There was a bit of tension between the sides and Leighton came to the Eyrie with a point to prove, and one thing that was clear from early on was that the referee was in for a busy day.
After forty-five minutes, the game was still level with the referee gaining most of the attention for some of his decisions in the game with the Eyrie fans making their feelings heard.
Five minutes into the second half, the Eagles took the lead. There was a goal line scramble and the ball fell to Shane Bush to fire the ball home and put Bedford ahead.
Ten minutes later, the away side were back level. A corner into the box was cleared before being redelivered to Luke Pyman to head home to score the equaliser.
In the seventieth minute, there was some controversy as Luke Pyman was taken down and a penalty was given with some speculation as to whether it was inside or outside of the box.
The penalty was taken but well saved by Mark Smith, but the referee wasn’t happy with this and demanded it was taken again. Jake Watkinson stepped up and blazed it over the crossbar giving Bedford Town a lifeline.
After this, the game frazzled out as the points were shared but the Eagles remain unbeaten in the league and go four points clear at the top of the table.
Words by Zac Neal
