Real Bedford cruise past Crawley to ensure they’re top at Christmas
A thrilling first half was enough to see The Pirates prevail at home, putting six past Crawley Green over the 90 minutes.
The game started with two long-range shots testing Adi Connolly in goal for Crawley, with Charlie Smith and Ben Stevens attempting to break the deadlock. Connolly saved the latter, but only as far as Josh Setchell. Setchell, in turn, found Archie Jones, whose low-driven cross was flicked towards goal by Joey Evans, who bagged his first goal of the afternoon inside 10 minutes.
The second goal came soon after. Lee Watkins picked up a loose ball in the midfield and found Josh Setchell in space on the right flank. Setchell slid past the defence and down the by-line in an impressive 30-yard charge and found Evans, who once again applied a deft touch to see it past the keeper.
Setchell was at the heart of the next attack 5 minutes later, too; his pass found Ahmed, who travelled into the area before dragging the ball back to Ben Stevens. The midfielder picked his spot and wrapped the ball into the bottom left to make it 3-0 inside 30 minutes.
Kian Wilkes then looked to strike back for Crawley Green. His free-kick from the edge of the area made it past the wall but only as far as McGregor, who used his athleticism to palm the ball around the post—denying the visitors their best chance of the half.
Up the other end, Crawley Green had more trouble in the run-up to halftime. After chances from Archie Jones and Tom Wood were blocked, the ball rebounded to the Real Bedford skipper. Wood struck it cleanly on the volley, with the ball flying straight into the bottom left to make it 4-0 at the break.
Second Half
The Pirates dominated the second half, too, finding another goal within 20 minutes into the second half. Mo Ahmed was set away down the left after some intricate one-touch football. Ahmed’s delivery eventually found Ben Stevens after Setchell helped the ball on. Stevens’ toe-poke effort was enough to defeat Connolly and see him pick up a well-deserved brace.
However, the goal milestones weren’t over there, as Evans did one better 10 minutes later, completing his fourth hat-trick of the campaign. After good work on the right wing by Eddie Corbit, the replacement delivered a ball to Evans, who beat the defenders in the area before getting a shot away to pick up the match ball.
Evans had a chance to get his fourth late on, but Adi Connolly saved his one-on-one opportunity in the final few minutes of the match.
Real Bedford now travel to Shefford on Wednesday before facing Cockfosters in their last home game of 2023 this Saturday, tickets are available here.
RBFC: McGregor, Burgess (Swain 82’), Wood ©, Richardson, Smith, Watkins (Knight 78’), Setchell, Ahmed (Corbit 70), Stevens, Jones, Evans
Unused Subs: J.Ducket, Walsh
Real Bedford 6 - 0 Crawley Green
23rd December, 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Location: McMullen Park
