Real Bedford’s fine new year form continued on Tuesday night (20 January) as Rob Sinclair’s side coasted to a 2-0 win against Bromsgrove Sporting in Southern League Premier Central, rising to third in the league.
It’s the third straight victory for Real – and their 12th of the league season – as goals from Josh Allen and Ben Stevens were enough to see off a Bromsgrove team struggling towards the bottom of the division, and just two points above the drop zone.
The closest Bromsgrove came to securing a result was a not unprecedented floodlight failure after 40 minutes at the Ledger Stadium, but the game was able to complete following a 25-minute delay that saw the clash end after 10pm, much to the relief of all at Real who are already playing catch up in the division.
Multiple postponements for waterlogged and frozen pitches have left the Pirates a touch behind the eight ball in Southern League Premier Central, and still have between two and four matches in hand on teams in the top ten.
For Bromsgrove, and their new manager, former Blackburn and England goalkeeper Tim Flowers, the world is looking a touch more bleak as they engage in a brutal relegation battle.
Allen scores again before darkness falls
The early chances within the first ten minutes fell for eventual goal scorers, Stevens and Allen but both were hit straight at Rory Brown in the visiting goal.
An early injury for Bromsgrove’s Kyle Rowley only added to the feeling that this was not to be Sporting’s night, and while the visitors had a number of shots on target, most of them were from distance and rarely troubled King in the Bedford goal in a frustrating night for the Rouslers.
One of those efforts came from former Bedford Town striker, Tyrone Lewthwaite, before the hosts opened the scoring on the half-hour mark.
Josh Setchell raced on to a ball into the area, beating both Brown and a fellow green shirt to set it on a plate for Josh Allen who tapped home into empty net for his 15th league goal of the campaign.
Allen would go on to be denied twice more by half-time, but not before a 25-minute delay due to an issue with the floodlights.
It brought back horrible memories of Christmas 2024, where Real were leading Aylesbury United in Southern League Central Division One when the Ledger Stadium was plunged into darkness, but thankfully for all in amber, the problem was fixed and the game was able to resume.
Read: Downpours and a floodlight failure scupper Bedford’s Southern League games
Stevens secures the points
The second half got underway at 9:15pm, and largely followed the same pattern as the first, with Real claiming much of the possession and Bromsgrove restricted to pot shots from distance.
There were more chances for Allen, although the striker was continually denied a second, before Real’s number ten secured the clincher.
Ben Stevens was on the end of another smart move, ending with Conor Tee whipping in a dangerous cross that left the Real playmaker with a simple touch into the net.
Bromsgrove chances again fell to Lewthwaite; whose shot was well charged down by King and also Jack Kelly, who saw a header from a Billy Shaw corner fly wide, but there was never any danger of them creating a nervy finish as Real saw out the game with relative ease.
Real subs Ben Weyman and Rio Deall see efforts kept out late on, but the third would merely have been the icing on the cake in a dominant performance for the Pirates, who are now up to third, although some way behind the division’s front runners, Spalding and Harborough.
“The three wins are really important, but the performance tonight was outstanding”, said manager, Rob Sinclair after the game.
“From minute one to minute 90, we dominated the ball, created numerous chances and on another day, the score line could have been higher so we’re really pleased.
“We need to keep having the courage to play the right way, work hard and hopefully we can get another win [on Saturday against Worcester City]”
Worcester, who have lost their last two games by a single goal, including against bottom of the table, Stamford, provide an excellent chance to extend the winning run to four, while Sudbury and the aforementioned Harborough are also due to visit Bedford in the next fortnight.
