After a week to remember for the Pitmen and their supporters, bogey team Bedford brought Rob Smith's men crashing back down to earth with a late, late winner at the New Eyrie this afternoon to deny the visitors third spot in the Zamaretto League Premier

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After the euphoria of the record-breaking 9-0 win over Weymouth the previous week, Smith stuck by the team that had scored freely against the league's bottom club. He even stuck with the same replacements, with Simon Brown looking to come on and have the same impact as his impressive cameo last week

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The struggling Eagles came into today's game off the back of a superb 5-3 win over fellow lower-table dwellers Tiverton Town last weekend, which had been their first win in all competitions in their last seven games. Manager Ady Williams made one change to his side for today's clash as forward Paul Draycott came into the side in place of Aaran Cavill

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Buoyed by their success last week, the Pitmen made a good start to the game, as they sat in Bedford's half for long periods in the first quarter. Chris Clements tested Bedford keeper Ian Brown with an eighth-minute shot after he whipped in a free-kick from the edge of the area

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The big, burly Marvin Robinson was making a nuisance of himself, making a run to get on the end of a Gavin Hurren ball, but blazed well over the bar with an eleventh-minute effort

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Loanee Danny Carey-Bertram, seemingly enjoying his role as foil to Robinson, thought he had added to his impressive goal haul for the club a minute later as he was played in by Clements - he delayed his shot just long enough to allow Bedford's Stuart wall to get back and block his shot

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A minute later, Brown made a tremendous save to keep the Eagles on level terms; a cross from Sean Platt was met first time by Robinson from fifteen yards out, with Brown reacting to turn the ball away from goal to his left. The ball rebounded back off the foot of the post, with Jay Denny not taking full advantage of the rebound by firing wide

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Bedford finally awoke from their slumber, and the much-travelled Josh Sozzo made a great run down the right before finding Phil Draycott. His control was good, but his off-balance shot failed to test Dan Crane

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Midway through the half, Denny lost possession as he tried to play his way out of trouble but only succeeded in giving the ball away to Callum Lewis. the Bedford midfielder was hasty in his shot and rather than take the ball further on, rushed his shot and fired well over the bar

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Phil Draycott was involved again on twenty-four minutes, making progress down the left by beating both Platt and Ben Bailey, before trying a chipped shot into the far corner that beat the crossbar by a couple of feet

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Carey-Bertram's persistence almost created an opening just after the half-hour mark, as won the ball wide and made a beeline for the penalty area. His cross towards the onrushing Robinson was well cut out by Brown, who pounced on the ball before it reached the striker

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Sozzo caused a few scares amongst the Hednesford defenders on thirty-one minutes; Ian Draycott made a good run into the area, before squaring the ball to the forward. With Liam Francis for company, Sozzo's shot was rushed and curled wide of the post

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Three minutes later, and Brown was called upon again by the hosts, as Carey-Bertram's movement got him into a position to get a snap-shot in after a cross from Platt - Brown made a vital block to his left-hand side

As half time approached, an engrossing encounter almost saw Hednesford take the lead, as Robinson seized upon a poor backpass from Wall. He did everything right by fighting off Wall's challenge and drawing Brown out of his goal, but his shot lacked direction and missed the post by a foot

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The final chance of the half fell to Bedford, as they had the ball in the net courtesy of Sozzo - Craig Daniel's long ball was fired into the net by the striker, but the offside flag was up long before he rifled past Crane

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Despite a fairly satisfactory showing in the first half, Smith had obviously seen something he felt he needed to change, as he made a surprise double change at the break. Simon Brown and Darren Campion replaced Bailey and Aaron Gibson respectively

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The moves seemed to have the desired effect, as the Pitmen made a blistering start to the second half. Robinson was first to fire a warning shot, muscling his way through the Bedford defence to fire past Brown with a firm shot. However, his goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Wall

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Two minutes later, the Pitmen did take the lead, with Carey-Bertram scoring his fifth goal in just three appearances. Simon Brown managed to get the better of Eddie Lawley down the right, before taking the ball into the box and crossing for Carey-Bertram, whose initial shot was saved by Brown in the Bedford goal. Fortunately for Carey-Bertram, the ball rebounded off the keeper and back off his out-stretched leg before finding the bottom corner of the net

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Tails up, the Pitmen continued to create chances as they searched for a second goal. Robinson felt he should have had a penalty after being bundled over just inside the area, but his protests were waved away

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Bedford stormed down the other end, and within a minute almost snatched an equaliser. Ian Draycott, who was enjoying a good game down Bedford's left-hand side, beat Cheyenne Dunkley and fired low to Crane's left with a firm shot that the Hednesford number one did well to save

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Robinson was a constant menace to the Bedford defenders, and another excursion into the Eagles penalty area on sixty-five minutes nearly brought about a second goal for the Pitmen. He went up to challenge Brown for a high ball, getting the better of the keeper by glancing the ball into the net over his head. To the disbelief of the Hednesford players and supporters gathered behind the goal, the referee disallowed the goal for a foul on the keeper

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If Robinson's goal had stood, chances the game would have panned out very differently for the Pitmen in the last twenty-five minutes. As it turned out, Bedford came storming back to turn the game on its head

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On sixty-eight minutes, a lack of concentration in the Hednesford defence saw Eagles skipper Derwayne Stupple pick the ball up, skip past a couple of half-hearted challenges before firing past Crane from close range

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On came the tricky Jamey Osborne for the hard-working Hurren with eighteen minutes left, as the Pitmen looked to claim all three points

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Robinson was again involved three minutes later, using his strength to hold off a challenge on the edge of the area before playing the ball into the path of skipper Platt, who had made a run forward. Platt's angled drive looked destined for the far corner, but Brown made a fantastic stop to turn Platt's shot away from a certain goal

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Both sides attempted to win it in the final ten minutes, with half-chances at either end involving Sozzo and Ian Draycott for Bedford, and Carey-Bertram and Clements for the Pitmen

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However, just as it looked as though the points would be shared, the Pitmen were once again hit by a late, late goal, as they have been on more than one occasion this term. Eagles substitute Jermaine Ivy danced past a static Liam Francis before crossing for Ian Draycott, who cleverly back-heeled the ball into the path of Jamie Cole, who fired past a despairing Crane at the far post for the winner

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A sickening end to the game fo the visitors, who are denied a chance to move into the top three by Bedford's late show and remain in seventh place in the league table. Next weekend sees Smith's inconsistent side on their travels once against as they travel down to Devon to face Tiverton at Ladysmead

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Bedford Town: Brown, Joyce, Lawley, Stupple ©, Wall, Hoyte, Daniel (Cole 57), Lewis, Sozzo (Ivy 45), I. Draycott, P. Draycott (Ducket 80),

Subs Unused: Amaegbe, Clark

 

Hednesford Town: Crane, Platt ©, Gibson (Brown 45), Bailey (Campion 45), Francis, Dunkley, Denny, Clements, Robinson, Carey-Bartram, Hurren (Osborne 72)      Subs Unused: Carter, Keenan

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