Real Bedford will be keeping an eye on the ever increasing fuel prices, as their Women’s side have been rewarded for finishing top of their Women’s National League Cup preliminary group with a trek to Middlesborough in the first round.
It will be yet another mammoth trip for the side, who are now due to be racking up approximately 1,250 miles in the next month as they fulfil their cup fixture alongside a busy Women’s National League Southern Premier schedule.
The cup tie is due to be played on Sunday, 1 November and will be part of an away schedule in the next month that will see Charlie Bill’s team travel all over the UK.
They begin the busy month of October with a trip to Home Park to face winless Plymouth Argyle this Sunday (4 October), before another trip down south to Lewes in East Sussex the following weekend.
Some respite from the relentless travel appears in the form of October’s only home game against Exeter City, before an albeit shorter journey to current WNL Southern Premier leaders, Oxford City on Wednesday, 28 October.
The team will then head in the opposite direction, for the 400-mile round trip to Northern Premier club, Middlesborough in the first round of the WNL Cup; one of many trips to established clubs this season for Real.
Story of the season so far
Real Bedford are sitting in sixth after five games of the Women’s National League Premier South season, following two wins and three defeats.
An opening day victory at Cheltenham Town set a positive note, before Real lost 4-1 at home to Fulham the following weekend.
A late winner for Zynia Delglyn helped Real to their other win in the league this season; a 2-1 triumph against Swindon Town at the end of August, although a pair of 2-0 defeats against AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth in recent weeks have seen Real drop to mid-table.
Their cup form has however been perfect.
Real have scored 12 goals in three preliminary group games, including a 5-1 thrashing of Northampton Town and a similarly convincing 4-0 away win at London Bees.
Perhaps the most satisfying win came on Sunday (27 September), as Real Bedford saw off a Tottenham Hotspur Development side 3-0 at home.
Melis Mehmet opened the scoring for the Pirates before Ellie Head hit a brace to secure top spot and an automatic place in the FAWNL Cup, along with 21 other group winners and 10 runners-up.
The 20 best third-placed sides enter the lesser Plate competition.
The victory is a potential pre-cursor to the setup of the Women’s third tier next season, in which the Women’s National League is set to include four Women’s Super League (WSL) academy sides.
That was despite a reported 52 clubs signing a petition against the move, with those clubs calling the decision “morally wrong”. It is unclear if Real Bedford were one of the 52 clubs.
Real Bedford Women’s next game is at Plymouth Argyle this coming Sunday (4 October), while they are next at home at the Ledger Stadium on Sunday, 18 October against Argyle’s Devon rivals, Exeter City.
