Bedford Town’s habit of conceding injury time goals returned with a vengeance on Saturday (17 January) as the Eagles lost 3-2 in an incident packed game against Southport at The Eyrie.
Zanda Siziba’s double on his debut for Bedford Town was the only bright spark in what turned into another gut wrenching loss for the Eagles who continue to battle down the bottom end of National League North.
With last weekend’s game away at Curzon Ashton postponed due to weather conditions, it had been a full two weeks since Bedford had last played.
In that time, Siziba, Charlie Trustram, and George Munday have all joined the club to bolster Bircham’s threadbare squad.
A win in the FA Trophy on Tuesday (14 January) against Eastleigh bucked a trend of draws and losses for Southport, which reached back deep into December.
Before kick-off, the Sandgrounders were two points above the relegation zone and four points below their hosts, Bedford Town.
Siziba brace puts Eagles in control
Bedford began the game in a threatening manner, with Josh Phillips and Siziba on the right and left wings appearing too hot to handle for the Southport full-backs.
Neil Danns’ decision to deploy Southport’s target man and top scorer, Jordan Slew on the left wing seemed a befuddling one, as it left them with very little to work with through the middle.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was the Eagles who broke the deadlock. Bedford Town’s set piece situations often cause chaos for opposing defences, and a corner delivered by Josh Phillips in the 19th minute was no different.
Mensah made the first contact with a towering header down to Greg Taylor, who scrambled to keep the ball alive for Bedford. Via a few deflections off yellow shirts, Taylor’s pass found itself in the path of Siziba, who drilled his first Eagles goal between Renshaw’s legs.
Having barely slipped into second gear all half, Southport needed a change in fortunes to find their route back into the game; luckily for them, it came in the form of a penalty just minutes before half-time.
A dash into the Eagles’ penalty area from Sonny Hilton drew a foul from the retreating Ryan Blackman as he slid in to prevent a shot on goal.
The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot, and neither did Chris Sze as he dispatched the penalty expertly to the right of Nathan Ashmore.
Just minutes later, a moment of lunacy from Ashmore almost gave Southport a timely lead.
A searching through ball for Slew in the last minute of regular first half time looked relatively harmless until Ashmore decided to charge the loose ball down. It was a race with Slew in which he never looked favourite.
Thankfully for the Eagles, Slew spared the blushes of Ashmore by firing his shot at the empty net wide, much to the disbelief of the away dugout.
Shockingly, the action in the first half was not yet over. Having so often been the name on the scoresheet for the Eagles this season, Tyrone Marsh turned provider for Bedford’s second goal that saw them ahead once more on the stroke of half-time.
Marsh delivered a perfectly weighted cross to the back post for Siziba to nod home his second of the afternoon.
It was nothing short of a dream first 45 minutes in blue and white for Siziba, who showed shades of former captain, Ryan Blake, in his performance this weekend.
Substitutions were made in abundance in the second half, as players from both teams grew weary in what was a fierce battle for survival.
Bedford’s sole task seemed to be neutralising Southport and clinging onto what would have been a precious three points.
All was in working order for the Eagles, until the introduction of Arthur Gnahoua for Southport with 25 minutes left on the clock.
At 33 years of age, Gnahoua’s Football League credentials – and his place as Southport’s second top scorer of the season – made him the ideal substitute when desperately in need of a goal.
Mensah sees red
Minutes into his cameo, Gnahoua warned the Eagles of what was to come as he latched onto a Jordan Slew cross from the left flank, but could only find the post with his header.
With 15 minutes to go, it was a near identical move from Southport which would finally unpick Bedford’s waning defence. Slew once again picked it up on the left wing and delivered a cross, bound for the six-yard box.
Gnahoua arrived right on time to place a bouncing volley past a helpless Nathan Ashmore, equalling the scores at 2-2.
To make matters worse for an already dejected Bedford Town team, Carl Mensah was dismissed for a second yellow with just ten minutes of normal time remaining.
Rallying cries from Bircham and the home bench looked to lift the Eagles as they pushed towards a valuable home point.
The board showing eight additional minutes was met with a residual groan by the home fans when held up by the fourth official. Bedford were barely holding on, and in the second minute of stoppage time, their resistance faltered.
Southport substitute, Danny Lloyd found himself up against Carl Mensah’s replacement, Ryan Doherty, on the left wing.
Lloyd beat Docherty brilliantly and set up Jordan Slew on the edge of the penalty area. Slew’s effort rocketed past Ashmore to complete the Southport comeback.
That goal marks Southport’s second victory over the Eagles this season and means that they now sit uncomfortably close to Bedford Town in National League North, with only one point separating the teams in 18th and 19th.
Next for Bedford is a trip to Alfreton Town, another side struggling in the National League North. A win for Bircham and his team is imperative to lift them away from the bottom four.
