Real Bedford were in devastating form against Raunds Town on Saturday, scoring nine, including four from Tom Hitchcock.

Please note that due to a power outage, a small amount of the stream was lost which included the opening goal and the sending off for Raund’s Town.

Real Bedford played Raunds Town for the third time in two months on Saturday. The previous two matches resulted in a 9 - 1 for Bedford at McMullen Park in the cup and a tough 2 - 0 win away in the League.

Any hope that Raunds had of building on their 2 - 0 defeat last month, and taking points back to Kiln Park was put to bed in the first half, with Bedford scoring twice and Raunds harshly being reduced to ten men.

While Bedford dominated the opening 20 minutes, Raunds should have taken the lead. A slip in the wet conditions presented the away side with an opportunity to open the scoring, but with the goal glaring, Corey Beattie hit the post with the ball going out for a goal-kick.

It wasn’t long until Bedford were rewarded for their dominance, with Tom Hitchcock scoring his first of four goals, hitting a sweet volley into the roof of the net.

Already facing an uphill battle, the afternoon was made all the more difficult when the referee harshly sent Cameron Harris off. While it was a tough challenge, a yellow felt fair, but after consulting with the linesman, the Raunds midfielder was given his marching orders.

Raunds continued to put up a tough resistance, and it wasn’t until first-half injury time when the home side doubled their lead, again, Hitchcock the scorer. Knight played a ball out to Owusu on the wing, who cut back in and took a shot. While the effort appeared to be going wide, an outstretched foot from the Raunds left-back put the ball into the path of Claston Gordon; he squared to Hitchcock, who controlled the ball and let it fly into the left-hand corner of the goal.

Second Half

While Raunds kept the score down in the first half, it was a challenging second period for the away team, conceding seven more goals, and Bedford were 3 - 0 up within six minutes of the restart. Dan Walker demonstrated his return to form, causing problems for the Raunds defence all afternoon and made the third goal with some great work down the right. His ball found Brown, who squared the ball to Hitchcock, but rather than attempt to complete his hat-trick, he dummied the ball for Kevin Owusu to slide the ball beyond the Raunds Keeper.

The fourth goal was all about Dan Walker. Picking the ball up from Owusu, just inside the Raunds half, he skipped past two defenders and cooly slotted the ball into the net. After missing several games through injury, the goal is a welcome return to scoring for the Bedford talisman.

While Raunds were out of the game, they did have chances to score, and Tyler McGregor continued his impressive form this season, keeping another clean sheet, including a great save in the 58th minute blocking a 30-yard shot which appeared destined for the back of the net.

Bedford made it five in the 72nd minute, with Andy Sinclair scoring his first of the season. The substitute returning to the team put in his best performance of the season, capped with a classy finish from just inside the box.

Sinclair went from scorer to maker for Tom Hitchcock to grab his first hat-trick for Real. Picking the ball up on the right-hand side, Sinclair his a low cross into the box for Hitchcock to place beyond the keeper.

Hitchcock wasn't done there and scored a fourth in the 83rd minute. Tom Wood, playing on the right of the back three, passed to Hitchy, who, at the edge of the box, dinked a first-time ball over the Raunds' defence to Dan Walker, who returned the ball to Hitchcock to finish similarly to his last goal.

The rout continued in the 84th minute, with Jordan Brown getting on the score sheet and Gordon getting his second assist of the afternoon. Dan Walker again caused problems on the right, and his cross was headed away only to the feet of Gordan, who squared the ball for Brown to finish into the empty net.

Bedford scored their final goal in the 90th minute, with Matty Clifford scoring his third goal of the season. A corner from Knight was met on the volley at the front post by the defender.

The home side continued to push for a 10th but could not find the net again and settled for a 9-goal winning margin, maintaining their 12-point lead at the top of the table and extending their goal difference to +41.

Real Bedford now have a two-week break before returning to McMullen Park on Saturday, 19th November, to face Eaton Socon.

RBFC: McGregor, Gordon, Clifford, Knight ©, Uttridge, Wood, Owusu (Sinclair, 62’), Corbit (Baker-Bond, 75’), Walker, Hitchcock (McLeod-Bentley, 83’), Brown.

Unused Subs: Murray, Ayre.