By Will Murray

Real Bedford were held to a 1-1 draw in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup against Bishop’s Stortford, meaning the sides will play a replay at Woodside Park on Tuesday night. Josh Allen’s first-half goal was cancelled out by Fabio Virciglio, with both teams coming close to winning the match in the late stages.

Rob Sinclair’s side impressed in the first-half, creating numerous chances from the start. After only three minutes, Ben Stevens found room on the edge of the box, but saw his left-footed shot well saved by Adam Hayton.

The visitors came inches away from opening the scoring in the 14th minute through Luka Chalwell. The striker, who was played through Nahum Melvin-Lambert, rounded Tyler McGregor and saw his right-footed effort cleared off the line by Shaheim Ward.

The Pirates got on the scoresheet three minutes later through Allen. A through ball from Ward found the striker on the right wing, who eventually cut in and perfectly placed his shot into the bottom left corner.

The chances kept on coming for both teams, with McGregor and Hayton both making important saves midway through the half.

Isaac Galliford and Stevens then came inches away from doubling the lead in the 39th and 41st minutes, respectively. First, Galliford curled a left-footed strike just wide of the left post before Stevens also narrowly missed the target.

Saleem Akanbi also saw his chipped effort drop just wide of the post seconds before the half-time whistle, meaning the Pirates went in at the break with a one-goal advantage.

Second Half

Three minutes before the hour mark, the Blues were level through Virciglio. Akanbi played through the number 12, who cut in and curled a right-footed strike past McGregor into the bottom right corner.

There was then a lull in the game until the final 10 minutes, when both teams came agonisingly close to booking their place in the next round. Conor Tee and Joey Evans both had opportunities, with the Pirates’ number nine just missing the target with his left foot in the 85th minute.

In the fourth minute of added time, a cross from T’aizo Marcel-Dilaver just missed Presley Evans and Melvin-Lambert, who had made late runs into the box.

In his post-match interview, Sinclair said:

“Frustrating. On the whole, the performance was really good. We obviously created a few chances, likewise them to be fair - their manager is probably thinking the same thing.

We need to be more clinical in the final third and we would have probably come away with a win instead of a draw. In terms of performance levels, it was good and I was happy with it.”

The draw means the two sides will face each other again on Tuesday. If the match is drawn after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra-time and potentially penalties will be required to separate the teams.

Lineup: McGregor, S. Ward, Cartwright, Longden, Morrell, Richardson, T. Ward (Watkins 65’), Galliford (Evans 70’), Tee, Stevens, Allen.

Unused subs: Hitchcock, Agemoh-Davies, Weyman, Soile.

Real Bedford 1-1 Bishop’s Stortford
Saturday 30th September 2025
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Location: Ledger Stadium
Attendance: 290