The Pitmen's recent winning run comes to an end this evening as Bedford Town edge out their visitors by a single goal at the New Eyrie in a low-quality ninety minutes 

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Looking to make it four wins in a row this evening, manager Kelvin Davis was forced into one change to the side that had beaten Spalding United on Saturday as Danny Whitehall was ruled out due to injury and replaced by Dylan Mottley-Henry in the starting XI. David Abimbola also returned to the squad amongst the substitutes after missing Saturday's game

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Bedford - sitting in mid-table in the league ahead of tonight's game - had beaten Scarborough Athletic 2-1 at the weekend, with manager Harry Smart making one change of his own from the side that had started on Saturday as Sonnie Davis - the son of the Hednesford manager - came in for Tarik Gidafree. There was the notable name of Manny Duku amongst the Eagles substitutes, after the former Hednesford striker had recently joined the club from Eastleigh

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On a crisp evening in Bedfordshire, both sides made a cagey start to proceedings; on five minutes, a lofted ball forward from Jai Curran-Nicholls found Mottley-Henry, who looked to calm the ball ahead of Alfie Thornett, with the pair clashing just inside the box. Despite claims from the men in white for a penalty, referee Ms Lowe brushed aside any protests and allowed treatment for both players to take place

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Good play down the left from Bedford in the tenth minute saw Lewis Franklin link up with skipper Josh Castiglione, who in turn played David Hicks into space in front of him. However, his cross was well fielded by Will Murdock, who claimed the ball ahead of the incoming Franklin at his near post

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Five minutes later, Murdock made a fine stop to keep the game goalless after a good run of Franklin saw him take the ball past Morgan down the left and cross for Castiglione, who turned well on the edge of the box and fired in an angled shot that forced Murdock into a fine save down to his left to push the ball around the post for a corner kick

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After clearing their lines from the corner, the Pitmen looked to hit Bedford on the counter-attack as Jamie Cooke played Taylor away down the left. He played Rose into space further in front of him, whose low cross to the near post towards Jarvis was held by Walker at his near post

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The Pitmen were given a golden opportunity as they were awarded a penalty kick on twenty-four minutes. A George Williams free-kick was cleared as far as Morgan, whose recycled ball into the far post was met by George Ward, who was pushed over by Franklin as the pair challenged for the cross. Ms Lowe had no hesitation in immediately pointing to the penalty spot, giving Rose the chance to open the scoring from twelve yards out. The Pitmen number eleven sent Walker the wrong way, but saw his effort clatter the base of the stopper's right-hand post and wide of goal. Another missed penalty to add to Rose's not-exactly sparkling record from twelve yards out

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Three minutes later, a Castiglione free-kick was cleared by the Hednesford defence back to the Eagles skipper, whose ball back into the penalty area caused Murdock some issues as he failed to claim the initial ball before eventually claiming a second time

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The hosts took the lead shortly after the half-hour mark as a dynamic run and cross from Davis down the right saw him beat Taylor and look to pick out Franklin, only for Williams to turn the ball into the roof of his own net from close-range as he tried to hack the cross away and deny the striker a chance

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On thirty-five minutes, Franklin showed great persistence  in front of goal as he had three bites of the cherry on the edge of the box before Murdock could finally claim the shot after successive blocks by the covering Hednesford defence

Good play down the right from Morgan on forty-one minutes saw the defender make a run into space and cross towards Jarvis, only for Evans to make a timely clearance ahead of the striker

With the game drifting into added time, Taylor made a good run towards goal down the left and was fouled by Castiglione just outside the box. Cooke took the resultant free-kick and stood up a ball to the far post, where veteran stopper Laurie Walker claimed the high ball at the far post ahead of Mottley-Henry

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Having been arguably the better side in the opening twenty minutes, the Pitmen had struggled to muster any sort of response after conceding the opening goal of the evening through Williams's own goal and had struggled to deal wth Bedford's attacking play as Castiglione, Franklin and George Moncur had given them the runaround on the counter. A clearly unhappy Davis made a bold double change ahead of the second half as Sonny Sharples came on in midfield for Curran-Nicholls and Omari Sterling-James replaced Mottley-Henry

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The first half chance of the second half fell at the feet of Sharples three minutes after the restart, as the substitute tried his luck from fully thirty yards out, striking his low effort wide of the right-hand post

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Payne was slightly lucky not to be handed the game's first yellow card of the evening two minutes later as he blatantly pulled Jarvis back on the left to stop the striker from breaking into the Bedford third of the pitch

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It was Ward instead that was to pick up the aforementioned maiden booking sixty seconds later as he was carded by Ms Lowe for raising his arm on Castiglione in front of the Bedford bench

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Cooke did well to break down the right flank on fifty-four minutes, running into space and crossing low into the six-yard box, only for the dangerous ball in to be turned away by Thornett for a corner as Jarvis looked to run the ball home

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Three minutes later, another quick turn and cross from Cooke was whipped across the face of the Bedford goal, but again no-one in a white shirt could react quickly enough to take advantage

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Walker made a good stop to deny the Pitmen an equaliser on sixty-three minutes as the left-back drifted and struck a shot at goal that was pushed away  by the former Solihull Moors goalkeeper for a corner kick

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Before the corner could be taken, Duku was given a typically cool welcome by the travelling Hednesford supporters as the Dutchman came on for the hosts in place of Evans. At the same time, Lenni Cirino replaced Taylor at left-back for the visitors

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Jarvis got a head on Cooke's resultant corner, glancing his effort at goal but seeing his effort drift well wide of Walker's right-hand post as the striker could only get a deft flick on the cross

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Yet another good ball across the face of goal, this time from Morgan on sixty-seven minutes, made it all the way through to Jarvis at the far post, who, from a tight angle, tried to turn the ball home but saw his effort diverted behind by Davis for a corner kick

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Some neat play from veteran former West Ham man Moncur on seventy minutes saw him beat two players and pull the ball back to former Stevenage man Hicks, whose shot from eighteen yards out flashed wide of Murdock's left-hand post

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Sterling-James followed Ward into Ms Lowe's book on seventy-two minutes after he had brought down Payne thirty yards from goal, with Payne maybe making a little more of it than was needed. Castiglione's free-kick was cleared by the Hednesford defence as far as Davis, whose shot from the edge of the penalty area was deflected wide of Murdock's goal by the studs of Cooke

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With fifteen minutes remaining, a Sterling-James corner kick was sent over to the far post to head of Williams, who somehow failed to turn the ball home from a couple of yards out as a combination of Walker and the crossbar saw the ball bounce over for another corner. How Williams failed to score, only he will know

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Former Enfield Town midfielder T-Sharne Gallimore tried his luck from distance on seventy-six minutes as the game opened up in front of him, only to fire  well wide of Murdock's right-hand post as he dragged his effort along the artificial turf

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With thirteen minutes remaining, the out-of-sorts Rose was brought off by the Pitmen as the other goalscorer on Saturday, Will Merry, replaced him on the left flank

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Cirino made a mazy run into the Bedford box from the left on eighty minutes, beating two challenges before overrunning the ball slightly and allowing Walker to make the stop. Cirino went down holding his face, prompting an angry reaction from Castiglione as he felt that the Montserrat International was looking for a penalty kick

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Walker made a regulation save to deny ​Sterling-James from a free-kick, pushing a swirling free-kick away from goal from the former Hereford man on eighty-six minutes ahead of the incoming Jarvis

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Before the corner kick could be taken, Bedford made a double change of personnel as Moncur was replaced by Peter Abimbola and Ben Weyman came on for Anisjko

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​Duku earned Bedford's first booking of the afternoon a minute later as he was rightly booked by Ms Lowe for a high boot that caught Liam Kinsella across the face

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Hicks followed Duku into the referee's notebook in the first added minute as he was booked for a poor challenge on Kinsella that infuriated the experienced midfielder

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A disappointing evening for the Pitmen, who seemed to lack any real cutting edge or quality in the final third and had offered very little in reaction to falling behind in the first half with a limp attacking display that highlighted the importance and influence of Whitehall to the side in the final third. With their winning run coming to an end, Davis will be keen for a reaction from his underperforming players on Saturday when they make the trip up to Cheshire to face the much-fancied Chester at the Deva Stadium

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Bedford Town: Walker, Davis, Payne, Castiglione ©, Moncur, Franklin, Evans (Duku 64 ▆), Anisjko (Weyman 87), Gallimore, Hicks ▆, Thornett      Subs unused: Flahavan, Doyle, Jones

Hednesford Town: Murdock, Morgan, Taylor (Cirino 64), Williams ©, Cooke, Jarvis, Rose (Merry 77), Mottley-Henry (Sterling-James 45 ▆), Kinsella, Curran-Nicholls (Sharples 45), Ward ▆      Subs unused: Hornby, Langston, D. Abimbola

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