Real Bedford extended their lead at the top of Southern League Central Division One to three points after comfortably seeing off Kidlington 5-1 at the Ledger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A Jack Morrell double, plus goals for Ben Stevens, Tom Hitchcock and birthday boy, Lee Watkins secured another big win for Rob Sinclair’s side with other teams in and around the top stumbling.
From the off, it was obvious which team were riding high at the top and which side were struggling towards the bottom as Kidlington set up camp to restrict Real Bedford for as long as possible.
Arguably, Joey Evans should have ruined the plan inside four minutes but his header from a few yards out was guided straight at Charlie Barnett in the Kidlington goal.
The Oxfordshire side held out for 26 minutes, but the inevitable first goal came via some nifty footwork from Evans in the left channel and his square ball found the onrushing Lee Watkins who smashed home to give the Pirates the lead.
Ten minutes later, the lead was doubled as Isaac Galliford won a free kick on the corner of the area, and Ben Stevens proceeded to whip it into the far corner, although he was perhaps looking for a teammate’s head instead of the net.
Jack Morrell claimed he got a touch, but the strike was rightly credited to Stevens, although the Real left back got his goal on the stroke of half-time with an excellent header at the front post to make it 3-0.
Kidlington not without their chances
The second half began in the same fashion as the first as chances for Stevens and Callum Nicholson flew over before Barnett awkwardly parried away an effort from the former as shots rained down on his goal.
There were however some sloppy patches of play from Real who had noticeably taken their foot off the gas, with Conor Taylor forcing McGregor into a smart save with the ball destined for the top corner with Powfil Raposo’s effort also kept out on the counter attack.
Josh Setchell had a chance of his own to make it four as he was played in one-on-one with Barnett but rolled the ball wide.
Raposo had another golden chance to give Kidlington a sniff but McGregor stood firm to keep him out again before Real Bedford well and truly put the game to bed.
Drew Richardson’s incredible effort from the halfway line almost caught Barnett out, but to his credit, the Kidlington keeper backtracked superbly to tip it round the post.
From the resulting corner though, Real once again won it in the air and the ball fell to Tom Hitchcock who guided it home into the far corner for the fourth.
Morrell scored his brace in almost identical fashion to his first to seal the win, but there was still time for Kidlington to score a consolation as Raposo slotted home a penalty in injury time to make the final scoreline 5-1.
Trust in the squad
Manager, Rob Sinclair was once again left content after another good afternoon’s work left Real Bedford with ten wins in twelve league games.
“I think we had to be patient to break them down, they sat in a low block and a little bit of frustration crept in, but once we got that goal, it was one way domination.
“We have to keep doing the things we’re good at and the results will come.
“[Morrell’s goals] is something we’ve worked on a lot more this year, with Chaz [Coach, Charlie Smith] helping us and Jack is implementing that with his run so long may that continue.
“I’ve got trust in all the boys. It was an opportunity to give minutes to the lads given the scoreline and I’ve got trust in the squad, and they’ve come on and done well.”
Real have a November full of home games as they welcome Biggleswade FC next Saturday (9 November) before a rearranged fixture at home to Leighton Town a few days later followed by a big game against Hadley on 23 November.
For now, they’ll be pleased to keep up their winning form made all the more important with Flackwell Heath losing 3-0 at home to Barton Rovers plus dropped points for Hadley and Welwyn Garden City.
