Real Bedford through to CUP QUARTER FINAL after putting 6 past Dunstable Town
The win sees The Pirates head to the Quarter Finals of the Dudley Latham Trophy thanks to a hat-trick from Ben Stevens alongside goals from Joey Evans, Josh Setchell and Charlie Smith.
Despite the resounding scoreline, the hosts struck first inside the opening 5 minutes. After The Pirates lost possession inside the Dunstable half, a quick-thinking Tolu Ikuyinmu played an inch-perfect through ball towards a racing Danny Webb. Dunstable's number 10 evaded the challenge of Drew Richardson before toe-poking it past McGregor to give the hosts an early lead.
The Pirates soon levelled proceedings with a spectacular goal. Ben Stevens picked up on a loose ball from Connor Coulson, catching the Dunstable keeper in no man's land. Stevens then produced a wonder of a strike off his left foot to lob Coulson into the Dunstable net from 35 yards out.
This moment of magic proved to be the catalyst for The Pirates, and soon after, Mo Ahmed was racing down the by-line after some good defensive work from new signing Brett Longden released the winger. Ahmed's cutback pass found Evans, who squeezed the ball in at Coulson's near post to give Bedford the lead inside the 30-minute mark.
Ahmed was soon causing more trouble in the Dunstable box as he sat down defenders with his dribbling prowess. Ben Sturgess blocked his shot but only as far as Brett Longden, who produced a brilliant pass to Ben Stevens behind the Dunstable defence. Stevens slid the ball back across the face of the goal towards Josh Setchell at the back post, who slotted it into the vacant net for his first goal in 2024.
However, the Pirates weren't done there as they managed to bag another just before the break. Once again, Brett Longden was at the heart of the attack, playing a quick throw-in to Joey Evans, who slid the ball back to Ben Stevens, making it a first-half brace for Bedford's number 10 as he smashed it past the keeper.
Second Half
Despite still having most of the ball in the second half, an altered Dunstable defence proved trickier to unpick until the game's latter stages. Good chances fell to Joey Evans, Archie Jones and Eniola Agemoh-Davies, all smothered by the Dunstable back-line.
However, with 10 minutes left on the clock, the visitors produced a final flurry. After some good midfield interplay between Charlie Smith and Archie Jones, Ben Stevens found space on the edge of the area to line up a shot. His effort nestled into the bottom left to complete his hat-trick, making it 35 goals for the midfielder this season.
With moments left of the match, Charlie Smith also managed to get on the score sheet, another long-range effort attempt, this time rattling the bottom right of the post before crossing the goalline, signalling Smith's first goal since his half-pitch spectacular against Biggleswade back in October.
Real Bedford will now play Shefford Town & Campton in the quarter-final of the League Cup, which takes place on Tuesday, March 19th, at the Shefford Sports Club. The Pirates return to McMullen Park this weekend to face Biggleswade United in league action. Tickets for the game are available here.
RBFC: McGregor, Corbit, Longden, Wood ©, Richardson, Watkins (Jones 69'), Smith, Setchell (Hitchcock 75'), Evans, Stevens, Ahmed (Agemoh-Davies 69')
Unused Subs: Knight, J.Ducket
Dunstable Town 1 - 6 Real Bedford
10th January, 2024
Kick-off: 3pm
Location: Creasey Park
