Two Late Goals Give Real Bedford All Three Points in a Tight Game against Rugby Borough

Match Report

27 Feb

Real Bedford took a massive step towards winning the league this weekend. Late goals from Eddie Corbit and Luke Knight secured the win and left the league leaders as the only team in the football pyramid to have won all their away games this season.

Real Bedford arrived at Rugby knowing this was the season's most important game and potentially the toughest. After a defeat to Wellingborough and a draw with Amersham, Rugby was closing the gap on the lead leaders. A win for Bedford would see them take a 10-point lead with 11 games to go, while a win for Rugby would reduce the gap to 4 points, with the chasing side having a game in hand.

As expected, the game was a tight affair and took on a pattern which dominated the game. Real Bedford would control more of the possession, while Rugby created the clearer chances.

With both sides choosing to play a back four, the less compacted midfield lent itself to a game which swung end to end. Real adopted a possession-based game, looking to pick through the Rugby defence from wide, while Rugby played more direct through the middle, looking to put their strikers through behind the Real defence.

Real had a chance to open the scoring on 22 minutes when a one-two between Matt Clifford and Jordan Bown sent the striker to the byline. His cross found Tom Hitchcock, which produced a great save from the Borough goalkeeper.

Next up, Tyler McGregor, in the Real goal was forced into action. Rugby broke through in the 27th minute, with Shaw finding space behind the Real defence and required a good save from the Bedford keeper to keep the game goalless.

Rugby continued to push hard, finding space in the middle and twice looked like they had broken the Bedford defence but to be flagged offside. The game was delivering as billed and the tension could be felt on the sidelines.

Real had an excellent chance to head into the half-time break ahead. Stuart Sinclair found Matt Clifford out wide, who put a teasing ball into the 6-yard box. Hitchcock could not connect, and the ball went through to Walker, but he failed to make a strong enough connection and put the ball wide.

SECOND HALF

The second half played out much the same as the first. On 50 minutes, Eddie Corbit played Tom Hitchcock through. He found Jordan Brown, who shot wide. Then Borough nearly took the lead, twice hitting the woodwork. Again, Shaw slipped behind the Bedford defence, but under pressure from Tyler Mcgregor, the ball hit the post and went out. Shaw hit the post again on 73 minutes. This time his shot from the left of the box hit the other post and went out.

The home side dominated this part of the game and looked the likelier to score and nearly took the lead again. A Gez McGahey's long-range shot forcing another excellent save from Tyler McGregor.

As the game swung from end to end, Real finally broke the deadlock. Brown and Walker had swapped sides, and Tom Hitchcock put Brown down the left. He controlled the ball and raced past the Brough defence towards the byline, squaring the ball to Eddie Corbit, who smashed the ball home from three yards to the jubilation of the travelling Bedford faithful.

Borough pushed hard for an equaliser, but Real doubled their lead and secured the win in the 90th minute. Another darting run into the box by Corbit saw him brought down, and Luke Knight stepped up to convert the penalty.

It was a massive win for Bedford in a game that could have gone either way. There are now 11 games to go with all to play for.

No rest for Real as they face Buckingham at home on Tuesday 28th Feb, looking to cement their position at the top of the table. Come down and support the lads.

RBFC: McGregor, Hartley, Clifford, Knight (C), Wood, J. Ducket, Walker, S. Sinclair (McGrath, 52’), Hitchcock, Corbit, Brown.

Unused Subs: A. Sinclair, Owusu, Culley, Uttridge.