Blues Football
We continued our improvement this term with a decent result against a strong Bedford side, having been thrashed in the away fixture last term. However, disappointment was the overriding feeling, having let slip a two-goal lead in the last 20 minutes.
Going into the game knowing that a win was necessary if we were to keep our destiny in our own hands as far as the BUSA Halifax Championships were concerned, we started at a high tempo, continuing where we left off against Loughborough the previous week.
Bedford were under severe pressure and could not withstand for long. Andy Durnford teased his fullback down the left wing, and earned a corner for his efforts. His swerving cross appeared to be too close to Paviour, the Bedford keeper, but he remained stranded to his line, and Martin Oehmke headed home the simplest of goals.
There was nothing simple about the second half of his brace, however. A fine passing move down the left between Chris Woodcock, Os Akkaya and Durnford resulted in another corner. Durnford this time curled the ball out towards the penalty spot, and Oehmke again rose above his man and bravely powered his header past a flapping Paviour.
We went in two goals to the good at half time, without ever really having played as well as we know we can.
Things might have been different had we converted one of a succession of clear goal-scoring opportunities to put the game out of reach at the start of the second-half, but then Bedford made a substitution that turned the game on its head.
Having mirrored our 4-5-1 formation for the first hour, they threw on a second striker, Smith, for the final third of the game. He proceded to use his elbows to great effect against Oehmke catching him once clearly in the face, only to avoid a deserved red card thanks to the referee, who did not seem to be capable of controlling the game.
After 70 minutes we conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box after a rash challenge and Hodges stepped up to cleverly flick the ball over the wall into the top corner.
The memory of last season, when Bedford came from two down to draw, seemed to haunt us from this point on, and the equaliser soon followed. A quickly taken free kick caught our back four napping, and Smith's looping cross was caught by the wind and carried over a helpless Tom Casarella.
However, in the end both teams were forced to settle for a point, a result that leaves us perilously close to missing out on this year's knockout stages. We now have to beat Worcester this week in our final game of the group, and hope that Bedford do not spring a surprise by defeating Nottingham, who have already qualified.
14th Feb 2002