Bedford Town faced a tough ask to reach the Bedfordshire FA Senior Cup final at The Eyrie last night, and came unstuck against a strong Luton Town Under-21 side; missing out on a second consecutive final.
The 5-1 final score showed the gulf in class between the Southern League Premier Central side and the potential future stars of the Football League, as Luton Town go on to face Biggleswade FC in the showpiece final.
Opening skirmishes presented two chances for Bedford Town in the opening moments; Junior Gyamfi shooting over from distance before former Luton Town player, Connor Tomlinson also missed a good opportunity.
From there however, it was the Luton Town show as Miller Matthews-Lewis opened the scoring with a deft header before Jake Burger scored the first of his two for the evening as he pounced on a mistake from Eagles goalkeeper, Lewis Elsom.
Oli Lynch put the game out of sight for the visitors before half-time, and despite Connor Tomlinson igniting hopes of a comeback with a goal of his own at the beginning of the second half, it wasn’t to be.
Further goals from Burger and Lynch secured the tie with ease for Luton Town’s youngsters, although they were helped by the presence of first-team goalkeeper, James Shea who kept out chances from Tomlinson, Rene Howe and Drew Richardson.
Focus turns to relegation battle
The County FA’s flagship competition was merely a side show to the bigger picture at Bedford Town, who face a desperate attempt to stay in Southern League Premier Central following another tough assignment on Saturday.
A 2-0 loss at playoff-chasing Coalville Town is Bedford Town’s sixth consecutive league defeat and it leaves them four points adrift of safety with eight games to go although sides around them have games in hand.
Second half goals from Luke Shaw and Ashley Chambers secured the win for Coalville who are fourth and still have an outside chance of automatic promotion, although they are nine points clear of sixth placed Mickleover.
As for Bedford Town, the task does not get any easier as they host third placed, Nuneaton Borough this coming Saturday before another home game against fifth placed, Rushall Olympic the following week.
The Eagles have also suffered the loss of key players in recent times. Hugh Alban-Jones has moved to Peterborough Sports of the division above while Charley Sanders announced his Bedford Town departure last week.
Commenting on Twitter, the combative centre back – who was often used as a striker in the later days of his Eagles career – thanked everyone at Bedford Town for “some of the best times of my footballing career.”
“The rumours are true, I have left the club through my own decision and reasons. I wish everyone the best there and JT, the Chairman. The fans have been different class.”
It leaves Bedford Town without two of their key players heading into what is a desperate fight to avoid relegation.
Bedford Town host Nuneaton Borough at The Eyrie this Saturday, with tickets available to buy here.
