Real Bedford’s Streak Ended By Narrow Away Defeat
By Louie Truman
Real Bedford’s excellent run came to an end due to a 2-1 loss against Stourbridge. The Pirates fought hard, however Stourbridge came away with all 3 points.
The hosts had a dream start as Jack Newall opened the scoring in the first minute to make it 1–0 to Stourbridge. As the Pirates looked to bounce back, Ward made a good run, but his pass couldn’t find Allen. In the 23rd minute, Richardson played an excellent ball to Allen, but a challenge prevented his shot.
The Glassboys continued to create chances. Goal scorer Newall produced some excellent solo work to create a chance, but his shot was blocked. Just minutes later, Allen made a great run and put a cross into the box, but the flag went up. After three minutes of stoppage time, Stourbridge went into the break 1-0 up.
Second Half
Shortly after the restart, Stourbridge missed an early chance which went wide; the hosts also claimed for a penalty, but it was waved away. Rob Sinclair made his first change in the 58th minute, with Josh Setchell coming on to replace Rio Deall.
Just moments later, Stourbridge went close to doubling their lead, but a deflection went just wide. The hosts went close again, but King made another good save. The Pirates continued to push for the equaliser. Jones played an outstanding pass to Tee, who had a cross which was blocked.
Will Etheridge doubled Stourbridge’s lead, he had a shot from the edge of the area which went into the top corner. In the 86th minute, Conor Tee had an effort blocked as he attempted to get one back. Tom Hitchcock managed to get one back in the 94th minute, but the game finished 2-1 to Stourbridge.
In his post-match interview, Sinclair said:
“It’s one of those results in terms of the player’s work rate; it was brilliant. We couldn’t create enough, and they took their moments, so no complaints in terms of that. The run we’ve been on is something we can be proud of, and we’ll look to bounce back on Tuesday.”
Next up for the Pirates is an away fixture against Alvechurch on Tuesday night.
Lineup: King, S.Ward, Richardson, Davies, Watkins (Hitchcock 68’), Hilliard, Jones (Simmons 82’), Tee, Deall (Setchell 58’), Stevens, Allen.
Unused subs: Morrell, Cartwright.
Stourbridge 2-1 Real Bedford
Saturday 21st February
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: War Memorial Athletic Ground
