Real Bedford Put Nine Past Rothwell Corinthians
MATCH SPONSOR - AUCTION ROOM BAR.
A hat-trick from Joey Evans was the highlight as The Pirates put nine past Rothwell Corinthians at McMullen Park to make it to the second-round qualifying of the Isuzu FA Vase.
After a somewhat even opening 10 minutes, Real Bedford created the game's first opportunity. Tom Wood lobed the ball over the Rothwell defence and put Joey Evans through. The striker rounded the keeper, but the backtracking Ayrton Patel prevented him from getting a shot away. Instead, Evans laid the ball back to Ben Stevens, but his shot went over the bar.
Stevens made little mistake next time, as he found Bedford's opening goal. Lee Watkins drilled a ball across the face of the goal, which found Stevens on the penalty spot, who stroked it home first time for The Pirates.
Stevens soon found his second. Mo Ahmed dribbled his way past multiple defenders in the middle of the field before sliding a threaded pass to Stevens, who rounded the keeper and tapped it into an empty net, his fifth goal of the season.
Bedford continued to push for another, but Rothwell found themselves back in the game against the run of play. Tyler McGregor met a well-taken shot from 25 yards by Louis Martin, but he could not get a strong enough hand to the ball, and it flew into the top corner, bringing the game level.
Motivated by the goal, Rothwell found a new lease of energy, started to get more possession of the ball, and pushed for an equaliser, but Bedford restored the two-goal cushion just before the break. More good work from the midfield meant Smith could put a ball over the top of the defence for Evans, who cut inside from the left flank and curled a shot into the bottom right corner to get his first goal of the afternoon.
Second Half
Real Bedford seemed in control of proceedings after the second-half whistle, bagging six goals over 45 minutes of play. The first came from an excellent bit of keeping from Tyler McGregor. The youngster came out to collect the ball from a Rothwell free-kick before making an inch-perfect pass up the field to Joey Evans, who collected the ball out wide before knocking it back to Mo Ahmed, who smashed it past Sam Rushby for Bedford's fourth.
McGregor was also on hand to create the next, finding Matt Clifford with a direct pass out wide. The left-back then flicked the ball on towards Evans up front. The striker headed the ball down for Ahmed to control out wide before he returned the favour, crossing the ball back infield this time for Evans to tap into the vacant net.
Evans got his hat-trick soon after, this time off some opportunistic defending. The striker poached a Cameron Halle back pass in front of the goal before striking it under the keeper to ensure he would take home the match ball.
The goals didn't stop there. Matt Clifford's short throw-in gave Lee Watkins space and time to drive into the box, towards the by-line and test Sam Rushby, finding the net on a tight angle for his first goal in Real Bedford colours.
The introduction of Jordan Brown off the bench only made things worse for Rothwell as Bedford's all-time top goal scorer put two away in quick succession. From deep inside The Pirates' half, Matt Clifford found Brown behind the Rothwell defence for his first, beating Rushby in a one-on-one with a well-timed finish. His next and the final goal for Real was further good work from last season's top scorer. Dispossessing Jack Clipston, he rounded Rushby to tap home his second within a few minutes, bringing the final score to a healthy 9-1 win for Real Bedford.
The Pirates take to league action tomorrow as they face Arlesey Town on the road before a trip to Tring on Saturday. Please continue to support the lads as they look to continue their unbeaten start in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division.
RBFC: RBFC: McGregor, Gordon (Corbit 52'), Clifford, Wood ©, Swain, Smith, Stevens, Watkins, Evans (Brown 73'), Jones (Setchell 62'), Ahmed
Unused Subs: Taylor
Real Bedford 9 - 1 Rothwell Corinthians
26th August, 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Location: McMullen Park
