It was a full fixture card on Saturday for the club’s 14 senior teams, with six home and eight away matches.
Both the club’s National League squads, the Men’s and Ladies’ 1st XI’s, travelled away and both secured draws. The men holding London Edwardians to a 1-all draw, whilst the Ladies, away at Chelmsford, shared 3 goals-apiece.
The men return to Chester Road next Sunday when they take on Cambridge City, with the ladies travelling again, heading to Ipswich, where they will be hoping to gain points from their bottom of the table opponents.
The Ladies’ 2nd’s continue to struggle with their transition to the Premier League but will be hoping to gain a much-needed win, when they take on Upminster next weekend.
The Men’s 2nd’s, whilst holding their own in Division 1, are also overdue a victory, after a hard-fought game against Bury St Edmunds on Saturday ending in a 3-5 loss to the Bedford team.
Three of the other men’s teams were unbeaten, with the Men’s 3rd’s taking a 3-2 away win over Royston, and the Men’s 4th’s and Vets securing substantial triumphs.
An unfortunate injury, just before the half-time whistle, during the Men’s 4th’s match, saw Vauxhall 1st team lose two key players. The Bedford side, who had already shown domination, took control of the match with some great offensive runs. That combined with some excellent goalkeeping, rewarded Bedford with a 5-0 victory, whilst the Men’s Vets conquest was a 6-3 delight against local rivals Shefford & Sandy.
The Men’s 6th’s unfortunately, were unable to build on their two wins from the past couple of weeks. Their opponents, top of the table Cheshunt 3rd’s added to their season’s tally of goals, taking the match by 6 goals to Bedford’s 1.
Both the Ladies’ 3rd’s and 4th’s failed to make any further leeway in their league endeavours, the 3rd’s being unfortunate to go a goal down to Cambridge and the 4th’s defeated 3-1 by St Albans.
The remaining three ladies’ squads however, will be pleased with their weekend’s performances. The Ladies’ 5th’s beat their St Albans opposition 2-1 and will be looking to gain further points next weekend when they travel away to Hertford.
Whilst it was a dominant start by the Ladies’ 6th’s opposition, Berkhamsted Hemel, putting the Bedford defence under pressure from the outset, great keeping from young goalie, and Player-of-the-match, Freya Nichols, stopped Berkhamsted taking any early advantage.
The Bedford squad soon settled into their rhythm and the rest of the match saw end-to-end action, with both sides having goal-scoring chances, but both being deprived by the keepers. 0-0 the final result.
Finally, there was a great 2-0 win for the Ladies’ 7th’s over St Albans; the young Bedford squad looking to gain further points next weekend, when they take on bottom of the table, Chiltern 3rd’s.
Words by Jean Fitch
