The Men’s First XI continued their winning streak at the weekend, after travelling away to Bishop’s Stortford. Bedford opened the scoring, followed by a flurry of goals, alternating between the two teams, finishing with Bedford taking the 6-4 victory.
The result saw four goals from the stick of Alex Drummond, one from Arran De Souza, and one by youngster, Harry Pybus, his first for the team, capping off his brilliant man of the match performance.
The squad’s highly successful Premier League run, which has them sitting in third place, concludes this coming Saturday, when they welcome top of the table, City of Peterborough, to Bedford’s Chester Road home ground, 15.30 push-back.
Rhys Badman netted the first goal for the Men’s Second Team, just two minutes into the match, before Broxbourne equalised. A well-worked goal from Finn Lever took Bedford back into the lead before the half-time whistle, a lead that was stretched further by a second goal from Finn, midway through the second half, securing the 3-1 win and taking Finn’s tally for the team to 9 for the season.
The team are on home turf this Saturday, when St Albans Fourth Team travel, with Bedford assured at least a second-place finish to their season.
It was a 2-2 draw for the Men’s Third Team, against St Albans’ Threes, both Bedford goals coming from Josh Dixon, including an impressive one-on-one with the keeper, Josh deflecting an aerial ball, launched from outside the 25, into the back of the net from shoulder height. The team head away to Letchworth for their final fixture.
A strong team performance from the Men’s Fourth Team saved them from relegation, with a miraculous 3-2 win over league leaders Royston.
A disallowed Bedford goal and a few close calls had the teams sitting 0-0 at half-time, but a change of format for the second half paid dividends when Neil Guess converted a Penalty Corner on the 45th minute. A brilliant solo run by Sam Ross then made it 2-0 three minutes later, although Royston quickly pulled one back.
It was another converted Penalty Corner that gave Bedford some breathing room once more, this one from Sandeep Sira, with four minutes of the match left to play. A final-minute Penalty Corner goal from Royston upped the pressure on Bedford for the closing seconds, but the team remained resolute and took the victory, 3-2.
Bishop’s Stortford opened the scoring 2 minutes into the Men’s Fifth Team’s fixture, with three further goals to Stortford before Bedford’s James Logan bagged a pair early in the second half to bring Bedford back into the game. Hopes were dashed, however, when Bishop’s Stortford grabbed two further goals in the last minutes of the match, 6-2 to Stortford.
Bedford, in 11th place, host bottom of the table Southgate Adelaide in the final match of the season this coming weekend.
Meanwhile, the Men’s Sixth XI’s 4-0 win over St Albans puts Bedford in an unassailable position at the top of the league. The goal-scorers who brought the squad’s guaranteed promotion, with one game still to come, were Dan Sims (2), Simon Rees (1) and Ben Beveridge (1). The team will be looking to finish the season with another victory when they head away to Welwyn Garden City on Saturday.
It was the final match of the season for the Men’s Seventh XI, their closing fixture being against a feisty St Albans team. Undeterred, a great team effort cemented a 3rd place finish in their league, by signing off with a 5-0 win, goals coming from Paul da Silva and Jon Chard, complimenting a well-deserved hat-trick from Luke Killen.
The Ladies’ First XI will be looking to finish the season with their heads held high, when St Albans head to Chester Road to conclude what has been a testing season for the Bedford squad.
Their journey to Stourport last Saturday ended in a 3-1 loss, Stourport taking their goals in the first 10 minutes. Whilst Bedford had scoring chances through the rest of the game and successfully kept Stourport from further goals for the remaining time, Bedford’s only contribution to the scoreline was a Penalty Flick, successfully converted by Kate Costin on the 46th minute.
The Ladies’ Second Team drew 1-1 to Blueharts. Blueharts scored first, but Bedford quickly responded, with a goal from Harri Potter. It was a dominant performance from Bedford, who were unlucky not to get another goal. Both teams remain tied 3rd in the league, with Bedford above on Goal Difference.
The Second’s final match of the season is an away fixture to Crostyx.
The eighth place Ladies’ Threes held fifth place Blueharts to a scoreless draw, after travelling away. They get to enjoy the home crowd to end their season’s run, when second place Stevenage come to Chester Road.
It was a 3-1 win for the Ladies’ Fourth XI, against a strong Blueharts team, whose keeper made many superb saves throughout the match. The victory was enough to secure them promotion as Division 3SW champions, with two matches for them still to play.
The match goals were, two for Molly Hawkins, including a superb shot, lobbed over the Bluehart’s keeper, and the third goal going to Emma Cook.
The remaining fixtures of the season are, an away match this weekend to bottom of the table Royston, culminating in another away trip on the 5th of April, to second from bottom Stevenage.
The Ladies’ Fifths suffered a frustrating 1-0 loss, having travelled away to St Albans. They finish at home this weekend, taking on Blueharts, the Bedford squad guaranteed a fifth-place finish in the division.
After a very strong start to the season, the Ladies’ Sixes have suffered from the natural progression of players through the ranks, those deserving of promotion, rightly, moving to higher squads, but to the detriment of the team they have left. With some player injuries added to the equation, Saturday ended with a 2-0 loss for the team, against St Albans.
There are still two matches to play for the team, both away games. This Saturday, they travel to Blueharts and, on the 5th of April, close their season heading to Chiltern. Presently in seventh spot on the table, the two remaining matches provide the opportunity for a last-minute push to move a place higher.
The Ladies’ Sevens Development squad has seen some phenomenal performances this season, with excellent fresh talent coming into the club, many of the youngsters undoubtedly heading for first team positions in years to come. Saturday’s match ended in another win, 2-1 against Bishop’s Stortford. The opener came from a cross into the D, which was picked up by George Luther and flicked top corner, the second, a reverse hit from Maddie Taylor, smacking the corner of the back board. The goals take the team’s tally to 50 so far this season.
A youngster to watch for, is Isla Maclaren who, though still under 12, was playing her first adult match, putting in an amazing performance in mid-field.
The squad have their final action for this season when they welcome Letchworth to Bedford’s home ground on Saturday.
Sunday was a day of great success for several of the club’s age-specific squads.
Bedford's Girls came away as champions of the East Hockey U16 Junior Club Festival.
They won 6-0 against Bishop Stortford (goals from Tilly, Ella, Alex, Manpriya and Emma) and then 4-0 against St Albans (goals from Tilly and Alex). A great end to the season for the girls, who have all worked very hard.
Special mention, too, goes to Bedford's Under 8s, with teams finishing joint 3rd and 6th in their tournament over at Luton, with one of the club’s youngsters, Sisi, being awarded a fair play award for excellent sportsmanship and teamwork.
At the other end of the age range, the Women's O45s are through to the semi-finals of their England Masters Championships, after a 3-0 victory over Sevenoaks, goals coming from Emma Whitehall, Kelly Bingham and Cheryl Harding. The squad is thankful to have the home draw for the next round, it being Taunton Vale who will be travelling to Bedford on the 6th of April, to battle it out for a place in the finals.