Goalless Draw at St Ives Rounds Up Bank Holiday Weekend
By Will Murray
Real Bedford secured a 0-0 draw against St Ives Town at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road. All four of the Pirates’ backline and Tyler McGregor impressed to secure a second clean sheet in three away league games this season.
It was a tightly-contested first-half, with limited chances for both teams. The Pirates created the best opportunities in the first 15 minutes, with Conor Tee and Isaac Galliford both seeing their efforts well saved by Ollie Taylor, who impressed for the hosts.
Tee came close again in the 34th minute, cutting in and seeing his right-footed effort palmed away by Taylor for a corner.
The hosts looked threatening from set pieces, particularly from long throws, but the backline of Shaheim Ward, Drew Richardson, Sam Cartwright and Jack Davies stood firm, as the teams went in level at the break.
Second Half
The Pirates dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half, coming close through Cartwright and Joey Evans. In the 59th minute, Ben Weyman’s cross from the left found Evans in the box, but his header floated just over the bar.
After this period of pressure, the hosts came back into the game. A minute after his introduction, Amir Hadi was played through on goal, however, McGregor was on hand to make an important stop from close range.
Eight minutes later, Theo Alexandrou came close, this time curling an effort inches wide of the right post from the edge of the box.
The best chance of the game came in the 83rd minute when two Real Bedford substitutes combined. Ben Stevens played a smart free-kick through to Tom Hitchcock inside the box, who saw his effort pushed away again by Taylor.
St Ives threatened to nick a late winner, putting the Pirates under significant pressure from corners. Hadi was denied from close range in the 93rd minute after a goalline scramble in the box, while McGregor also made another important save.
Real Bedford kept their clean sheet, though, meaning they ended the bank holiday weekend with five points from their first five league games, leaving them 17th in the table.
In his post-match interview, Sinclair said:
“It was a bit of a scrappy game. Nobody really had a strong foothold in it. The way we defended our box from their set pieces was really pleasing. We also had opportunities in terms of breakaways, crosses and little combinations around the box where we just need to be a little neater and the goals will start coming.
Overall, in terms of coming off the back of two defeats, to then come away from home and get a clean sheet – we take the positives from it.”
Next up for the Pirates is a home game against Bishop’s Stortford in the FA Cup on Saturday 30th August. Get your tickets here.
*Please note that due to the fixture being an FA Cup match, ticket prices will be set to our ‘on the day’ prices.
Lineup: McGregor, Davies, Cartwright, S.Ward, Richardson, Allen, Watkins (T. Ward 87’), Weyman (Stevens 60’), Tee, Galliford (Jones 60’), Evans (Hitchcock 71’).
Unused subs: Longden.
St Ives Town 0-0 Real Bedford
Monday 25th August 2025
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Location: Westwood Road
