An 18-minute delay for torrential rain and an apparent lightning strike did little to dampen the spirits of home fans at The Eyrie as Bedford Town beat Spennymoor Town 3-1 on Saturday (29 August).
Reece Evans, Eno Nto and a George Moncur penalty did the damage against a largely toothless Spennymoor, who are left to make the 210-mile trip back to County Durham with plenty to ponder.
Eagles manager, Harry Smart would have been looking for an immediate response following last weekend’s 4-1 loss at Southport, and he made four changes to his starting line up, including the return of talisman, George Moncur.
Read: Cole consolation as Bedford Town lose comfortably at Southport
The result was a positive one, as Bedford Town slowly worked their way into the encounter, before hitting two goals before the break to take control.
Change of goalkeeper beginning of Spennymoor woes
Spennymoor were not aided by having to change their goalkeeper at the last second, as Brad James replaced Zac Hadi from the off after the Bradford City loanee suffered an injury in the warm up.
Whether that disrupted Spennymoor preparations remains to be seen, but other than when they were chasing a goal in the final minutes, the visitors looked largely unthreatening, with the Eagles making the better start to proceedings.
Enterprising early runs from first half goalscorers, Evans and Nto set the tone, before the former saw an opening chance kept out by James despite an excellent first touch from the striker.
Nto also saw a downward header kept out after eight minutes, while shots for Spennymoor’s Frankie Whelan and early replacement, Jack Young were blocked before the Eagles scored the opener.
The excellent Nto broke clear down the left wing and squared an inch perfect pass across the face of goal for Evans who tapped home into the roof of the net.
Both sides traded further half chances before Bedford’s second came on the stroke of half-time.
Evans dispossessed Cameron Salkeld a mere 20 yards from goal, finding Moncur in the blink of an eye, allowing the number ten to square it to Nto who also had the simplest of tap ins, leaving the Eagles two up at the break.
Downpour causes chaos
The shrill blast of the referee’s whistle at half-time coincided with the opening of the heavens, with fans flocking for the bar to escape the rain as much as for their mid-match sustenance.
As the players re-emerged for the second half, the rain continued to get heavier and with the rumble of thunder overhead, there were some nervous looks from all about whether play would continue.
The clock ticked towards the hour mark, and there was no let up in the conditions, leaving the referee with a choice to make; converging a meeting with both managers on the sidelines before taking both teams off the field.
His claim was that a lightning strike warranted a 15-minute delay, despite the rain coming to a stop as the players trudged off.
What transpired was an 18-minute delay, allowing everyone at Bedford Town to don their brooms to sweep some standing water from the 3G playing surface, but the delay didn’t stop Smart’s side as they scored a third when play resumed.
Just four minutes after the restart, George Moncur was taken down in the area by his namesake, George Cantrill before picking himself up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way from 12 yards.
Both Evans and Ryan Doherty had chances for a fourth, and the game should have been put to bed, only for Junior Mondal to get a goal back for the visitors to induce a nervy final ten minutes.
Spennymoor had their chances to make a game of it, and all of them came for substitute, Glen Taylor who saw his first effort sail narrowly over, before Walker was called into action to palm clear a blistering shot at his near post.
When Campbell Darcy’s cross was then headed on to the crossbar by Taylor, it caused some concerned whispers from Bedford fans, but with 88 minutes on the clock, it was too little too late, allowing Bedford Town to saunter home to three deserved points.
Bedford Town rise to 14th with five games on the board, while Spennymoor’s poor start is compounded by a first visit to the relegation zone.
The Eagles are back in action on bank holiday Monday (31 August) as they travel to current basement club, AFC Telford who are without a win this season.
