Charley Sanders scored a superb hat trick on Boxing Day afternoon in front of a crowd of over 800 at The Eyrie as Bedford Town hit Rushden and Diamonds for six in Southern League Premier Central.
New Diamonds manager, Chris Nunn, who has moved to Northamptonshire from local side, Kempston Rovers would have hoped for a new manager bounce, but he was greeted with a lacklustre Diamonds display as the Eagles ran riot.
The final score of 6-1 could have been far worse had Sanders converted a penalty and a host of other chances were taken, but interim manager Graeme Tomlinson will be pleased with the rout as Bedford Town jump to 12th in the league.
Sanders dominates from the front
Many would know Sanders as Bedford Town’s rock at the back, but in recent times he has been utilised as a target man up front and those tactics reaped rewards on Boxing Day as Sanders netted three times.
He opened the scoring for the Eagles after just five minutes, the Diamonds keeper unable to stop Sanders at the second time of asking as he nodded in at the far post.
Within ten minutes though, Diamonds were level thanks to a looping effort from Ryan Hughes, deceiving Yeovil Town loanee, Max Evans in the Bedford goal but that’s as good as it got for a Rushden side languishing at the bottom of the league.
Sanders had an opportunity to double his goal tally, only for his penalty to be saved by Dean Snedker, but Sanders made amends on the brink of half-time as he smashed home an effort to give Bedford Town a 2-1 half-time lead.
However, the second half was all about Bedford Town as they netted four more times to complete a demolition job.
Connor Tomlinson scored his 9th goal of the season with a beautiful chip from the edge of the area before Sanders completed his hat trick in audacious fashion.
Sanders pounced on a mistake from Snedker in the Rushden goal and proceeded to back heel into an empty net to take home the match ball and put the game out of sight for Bedford.
Junior Gyamfi made it five with a simple finish before Tomlinson made it ten for the season for him with a sixth in injury time to rub salt in the Diamonds wounds.
“We bombarded them”
After the game, interim manager Graeme Tomlinson was obviously pleased with the result but cautioned against getting too far ahead.
“We were disappointed only being 2-1 up at half-time, I think we deserved more and probably should have had more.
“I don’t want the lads to get bored of keeping the ball, it’s an important part of how I want us to play and I want the opposition to be facing the problems we’re making rather than the other way round.”
Captain, Callum Donnelly was also full of praise for man-of-the-match, Charley Sanders.
“Chaz [Sanders] is a handful. We were looking to work the long ball to the target man and it worked, especially in the second half when we bombarded them.”
The huge win helps Bedford Town rise to 12th in the table, and with 14th placed Royston up next followed by relegation candidates, Hednesford Town, the Eagles faithful will be hoping to jump into the top half when 2023 kicks off.
There is also the challenge of finding a new permanent manager at The Eyrie, but the Eagles have been set up well by interim, Graeme Tomlinson, helped out by captain Callum Donnelly and the hugely experienced, Craig Mackail-Smith.
At the other end of the spectrum are Rushden and Diamonds, who have just three wins all season and will need to get going soon to avoid a relegation to the eighth tier.
New manager, Chris Nunn is under no illusions as to the size of the challenge ahead of him, having joined from Kempston Rovers before Christmas.
Spirits at The Eyrie seem to be on the up however, with back-to-back wins bringing some festive cheer, but everyone associated with the Eagles will know its only job half done with Tomlinson’s side heading to Royston Town on 2nd January.
