Real Bedford put four past Crawley Green to close the gap at the top of the league

Match Report

30 Oct

Goals from Evans and Swain, a brace from Ben Stevens and a Crawley Green consolation effort left the score at 4-1 on a cold Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates got off to a fast start and found their first chance inside 5 minutes. A short corner routine between Ahmed and Stevens saw the latter whip in an inviting cross towards the head of Lewis Burgess, who flicked it across the face of the goal in agonising fashion.

Bedford continued to knock on the Crawley door but struggled to find clear opportunities to break the deadlock as the Crawley defence held firm. Pirates fans would have to wait until just before the halftime break before the first goal of the game. Crawley's goalkeeper parried a shot from range from Ben Stevens, but only as far as Joey Evans. The striker reset the play, finding Lewis Burgess in a deeper role, before finding Stevens inside the area. Stevens evaded defenders well before firing a shot towards goal, taking a deflection to fool Tierney Parker in between the sticks and cross the whitewash for the first goal of the game.

Second Half

Real Bedford continued their intensity from the end of the first half into the start of the second and found more opportunities as Crawley came out less defensive. 10 minutes in, a Charlie Smith corner was punched away by Parker to Setchell, who fizzed it back towards goal on the half volley from 20 yards out. Parker again parried the effort, and Ollie Swain picked up the scraps from out wide, delivering a ball to the back post towards his centre-back partner Luke Knight. However, the captain's header was off-target, and Crawley got away without conceding.

Real Bedford did get their second a few minutes later. Charlie Smith regained possession in the midfield before playing a direct pass towards Evans, who raced towards goal. With Stevens, Corbit and Ahmed all in pursuit. Evans took his time before laying it off to Stevens, who in turn found Corbit, then Ahmed before playing it back to Evans a few yards out, who made no mistake, bagging his 20th goal of the season inside 20 games.

Bedford got their third after the 70th-minute mark. Another short corner routine between Mo Ahmed and Ben Stevens allowed Stevens to whip a cross in. The ball floated past everyone in the area towards Luke Knight, who in turn passed it back to Burgess, who produced a delightful delivery from the opposite flank towards Swain, who nodded it in at the back post for his first goal in Real Bedford colours.

Moments later, Crawley Green picked up a consolation. A loose pass at the back from McGregor found Fullwood, who in turn played in Harry Peterson, who slotted it home to bring the game back to a two-goal deficit.

The 3-goal cushion was soon restored. Charlie Smith, Ben Stevens and Tom Hitchcock all linking up in the midfield left space in behind for Stevens to run into. Hitchcock tapped the ball towards Stevens, who steadied himself before smashing it past the keeper into the bottom left corner to complete his brace.

Crawley Green thought they had their second with a few minutes to go; a long-range Paris Smith header was palmed away acrobatically by McGregor, who collected it on the second time asking.

With the clock in the red, Real Bedford nearly put away a final chance. Claston Gordon, running down the right flank, played in Andy Sinclair, who Crawley Green defenders smothered before the referee blew his whistle for full-time.

The Pirates now take the trip to Stansted on Tuesday night, ahead of their clash at McMullen Park with Arlesey Town on Saturday. Both these league games will be live-streamed here.