Real Bedford Secure Three Points At Barwell
By Louie Truman
The Pirates have a demanding few weeks ahead due to postponed matches, but they head into the busy schedule on the back of two away wins against AFC Sudbury and Barwell. Archie Jones and Josh Allen were the goal scorers on Saturday.
From the very first minute, both teams started the game well. Davies made an important block in his box, and Hilliard put a good ball into the box, but it was caught by Barwell’s keeper.
Tee and Setchell combined well in the 18th minute and won the Pirates a corner, but nothing came from it. Just after this, the Pirates had another good chance; Setchell had a shot saved. Setchell continued to look dangerous; he also had an effort blocked on the line.
Archie Jones managed to open the scoring on his birthday. It was great play down the left, Tee’s ball into the box found Jones, who headed it home.
Goalkeeper King was called into action just before half-time, he did well to tip one over the bar, and he made a great double save, which maintained Real Bedford’s lead. The Pirates went into the break with a 1-0 advantage.
Second Half
Barwell made a change at the break as they looked to get back into the game. However, it was a slow start to the second half for both teams as the Pirates had the majority of possession.
The hosts had a good spell of play in the 67th minute, Wilson’s neat touch released Dwyer, whose shot hit the post. From a corner, efforts from Richards and Hakeem were both kept out. The Canaries kept applying pressure, Craig King made an excellent save, and Cartwright made a good block.
Rob Sinclair made another change in the 80th minute, Ben Weyman and Elliot Simmons came on to replace Jack Davies and Conor Tee. Josh Allen doubled the lead. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box and placed it perfectly.
After four minutes of added time, the referee blew the whistle, and Real Bedford secured an important three points on the road.
In his post-match interview, Sinclair said:
“Really good performance from start to finish, the first half was really dominant, and we could have gone more than 1-0 up, it was just small minor details in the final third. Overall, a really impressive performance.”
Next up for the Pirates is a home game against Bromsgrove Sporting on Tuesday 20th of January. Get your tickets here.
Lineup: King, S.Ward, Richardson, Cartwright, Morrell, Hilliard (Watkins 66’), Tee (Simmons 80’), Davies (Weyman 80’), Setchell, Stevens (Hitchcock 89’), Jones (Allen 66’)
Barwell 0-2 Real Bedford
Saturday 17th January
Kick-off: 15:00pm
Location: Kirkby Road Sports Ground
