Real Bedford won again at home, putting five past Moulton in their toughest test of the season. With Ampthill and Northampton O.N.Chenecks both also winning, it is still tight at the top of the table.

Real Bedford faced their toughest test of the season against Moulton FC under the lights of McMullen Park. Despite good pressure from the away team, Bedford dominated the game, winning 5 - 0.

Newly promoted Moulton’s have had an impressive start to the season and were sitting third in the table after five wins and only one defeat. The opening 15 minutes highlighted their pedigree, playing good fast football, and they should have been awarded a penalty early on. Real Bedford goalkeeper Tyler McGregor Clipped George Wingrove in the box, only for the referee to wave their appeals away.

Shortly after, Real took the lead, with Matty Clifford scoring his first goal of the season. With Bedford awarded a free-kick just outside the area, Clifford stepped up and curled the ball over the wall into the top left-hand corner of the goal. It was a just reward for Clifford’s consistent hard work this season.

Moulton may have felt hard done by going behind but continued to pressure Bedford without creating any clear-cut chances and ten minutes later found themselves two goals down after brilliant work from new signing Jim Burnside.

Picking up a cleared ball from a Moulton corner, Burnside ran the ball box to box before passing the ball out wide to Jordan Brown. The hat-trick man from Bedford’s last game against Holmer Green became provider, turning Moulton’s Cole Mason and squaring the ball for Burnside to bury into the empty net.

Bedford scored a third seven minutes later to cap an impressive first half. Rob Ducket headed back a Moulton clearance to the feet of Jordan Brown in the box, who was tripped by Ben Jackson, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Tom Hitchcock converted the penalty and continued his scoring run, which has now seen him net four times in three games.

Second Half

The second half continued much like the first as Moulton continued to play good football without creating many chances. The referee was also kept busy in an increasingly tense match, with eight players booked, including three sent to the sin bin.

Jim Burnside completed his brace in the 52nd minute. Bedford was awarded another free-kick to the left of the box from where Eddie Corbit curled one perfectly onto Burnside's head, who couldn’t miss from six yards.

Moulton thought they had pulled one back in the 70th minute when Tyler McGregor parried Derrick Okoye’s shot into the path of Wingrove, but the Moulton player was offside, missing out on a deserved consolation goal.

Bedford made it five in the 89th minute in a move orchestrated by substitutes Raiqwan Joseph and Ty McLeod-Bentley. Ty picked up a through ball from Jordan Brown on the right wing and unleashed a first-time ball perfectly to Joseph, who somehow steered the ball into the net. You will have to watch the video below to figure out how he did it.

While Bedford proved too strong for Moulton, they are a well-organised group and will cause other teams difficulty. For Bedford, it was a job well done, and they maintained their 100% start to the season. It was equally impressive that they have won the last two games without Captain Luke Knight and top scorer Dan Walker, highlighting the depth of the squad that manager Rob Sinclair has put together.

Saturday (24th September 2022) sees another tough test for Real Bedford as they travel to Amersham Town in the league. Three more points will mean that the team has maintained a 100% record for the first two months of the season.

RBFC: McGregor, Coyle (McLeod-Bentley. 85’), Clifford, J. Ducket (McGrath 62’), Wood, R. Ducket, Owusu, Corbit, Brown, Hitchcock (Sinclair 83’), Burnside (Joseph, 89’).