It’s been a busy few days at The Eyrie as Bedford Town entertained two sides at opposite ends of the Southern League Central Premier Division table, with contrasting results.
Both Coalville Town, beginning the weekend in third, and Alvechurch have both done exceptionally well to reach the first round of the FA Cup, and were rewarded with stellar away ties to League One opposition in last week’s draw.
Alvechurch will travel to Cheltenham at the beginning of November while Coalville Town face Charlton Athletic, but Coalville were to face a challenge before that date with the big boys.
Tomlinson and Soyemi-Ololade build partnership
Coalville Town were towards the top of the division on Saturday morning, but by the evening had dropped down to fifth after Tomlinson and Soyemi-Ololade goals gave Gary Setchell’s side a superb win.
They were in front inside ninety seconds on Saturday; Connor Tomlinson finding himself completely unmarked at the back post to nod home Drew Richardson’s cross to give his side an early lead.
The Eagles doubled their lead just before half-time as Afolabi Soyemi-Ololade latched on to a wonderful through ball from Hugh Alban-Jones to confidently slot home his first goal in the blue of Bedford Town.
Ashley Chambers did get a goal back for the visitors late on but Coalville could not find an equaliser as Bedford Town closed out the game for their second win as many games.
Gary Setchell was understandably delighted with the win against last season’s losing play-off finalists.
“We showed a lot of determination, a lot of grit and a lot of heart and they have quality players all over the pitch but I’ve got to credit my players. To a man, the players were excellent.
“We moved Connor [Tomlinson] from the left to the right to get at their left back and that’s exactly what he did, and he’s getting the results that he deserves.”
Alvechurch do the double
As ever in non-league football, there’s little time to stand still and admire your work as the next game is just around the corner, and this week was no exception with Alvechurch coming to town on Tuesday evening.
Alvechurch are the lowest-ranked side left in the FA Cup draw, and were 19th in the league before Tuesday’s encounter, but have already shown how dangerous they are after dumping Bedford Town out of the FA Trophy already this season.
That game finished 3-0 at The Eyrie and there was a sense of déjà vu around the ground as Alvechurch came away from Bedford with all three points, and the exact same scoreline.
The two sides were evenly matched throughout a combative first half at The Eyrie but the visitors took the lead just before the interval through Leo Brown, and they never looked back.
Read: Bedford Town out of FA Trophy but Kempston Rovers continue fine form
Jed Abbey, who scored a brace in the FA Trophy victory at the same ground, scored a tremendous second for the visitors before Dan Waldron added a third late on for the Worcestershire side.
The game merely proves that teams at this standard can’t stand still for too long, and while two wins in three games have pushed Bedford Town up to 11th in the league, the challenges will keep coming.
Gary Setchell’s men travel to Needham Market on Saturday – another side who travel to face League One opposition in the first round of the FA Cup – and he’ll be hoping for a repeat of Saturday’s performance.
Rovers suffer shock defeat
Kempston Rovers have made all the headlines in Southern League Central Division One but were brought back to Earth with a large bump on Saturday as they were humbled 4-1 by league new boys, Hadley.
Ben Baker was once again on the scoresheet for the Walnuts to continue his brilliant goal-scoring form but the problems were at the other end as an impressive Hadley side netted four without reply.
While Chris Nunn lamented an “awful day” for his side, he is right in saying that a return of 20 points from ten games is a great start for Rovers, and he has done an exceptional job in turning his side from relegation candidates to play-off contenders.
They will hope to bounce back on Saturday as they welcome league leaders, Ware to Hillgrounds, which will also see the return to Bedford shores for former Eagles striker, Rene Howe.
Real Bedford return to winning ways
After Real Bedford lost their 100% record at home to Rugby at the beginning of the month, they returned to familiar territory with a competitive 2-1 victory at Moulton on Saturday.
Goals from Jim Burnside and Harry Murray gave Real a comeback victory after Moulton had taken the lead on the half hour mark, and while Moulton found themselves a man down by the final whistle, Real Bedford found themselves 14 points clear at the top.
The Women’s side have started well at McMullen Park but their Women’s FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round fixture against Hashtag United was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.
