Bedford Town 1 Clevedon Town 1
Clevedon Town made the long journey to Bedford to play The Eagles and came away from their first ever visit to The Eyrie with a well-earned 1-1 draw to keep their unbeaten run intact.
On a very heavy and sanded pitch, that had been passed fit to play in a morning inspection, Phil Bater opted to partner his two big men, Symons and Prosser, up front and also gave a start to Kevin Davies at right back.
The game had barely kicked off on a sunny winters afternoon when Bedford’s James Hatch found himself clear on goal but, to the great relief of the travelling Seasiders fans, pulled his shot wide of the post as Danny Greaves came out to narrow the angle. Clevedon then settled down and begun to carve out some chances for themselves. On 5 minutes The Bedford keeper Andrew Stevens did well to block a Scott Hendy shot from a corner with his feet, and 10 minutes later he was again alert to scramble a Kris Leek shot round the post for a corner. On 20 minutes Mike Symons cut in from the wing, played a nice one-two with Matt Prosser, but sent his shot wide of the target. Against the run of play Bedford took the lead on 25 minutes when the ball was played through to Hatch who made up for his previous error by shooting across Danny Greaves into the bottom corner of the net. Clevedon came straight back at The Eagles and Christian Sylvester had a great chance in the box but just delayed his shot, which was blocked. However, the Seasiders were not to be denied and a Kris Leek free kick on 35 minutes was met at the back post by an unmarked Matt Prosser, who gratefully headed home the equaliser. Geraint Bater next hit a long-range special well over the bar, and Bedford’s Ben Farrell then did the exact same thing at the other end. The half ended with a good move involving Leek, Symons and Sylvester needing another good save from Stevens.
Bedford came out charged up for the second half and took the game to the visitors, with Danny Greaves called into action to save a free kick. On 55 minutes Leek sent a shot across the face of the Eagles goal, but it just missed the post, but then Bedford piled forward again, putting in several dangerous crosses, which were either headed away or well caught by Danny Greaves, who was commanding in his 6-yard box. On 60 minutes Clevedon introduced fresh legs with Steve Cook and Mitchell Page replacing Symons and Prosser, and the substitution nearly came up trumps a few minutes later when both subs linked up well with Kris Leek who put another shot across goal agonisingly wide. Bedford too made some substitutions, and on 70 minutes one of them, Michael Lyon, got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back for Andrew Phillips to hit a shot that was well saved by Greavsie. The Seasiders made their final change on 80 minutes when Kyle Bassett replaced Leek, and within minutes his powerful run and cross along the goal line looked like giving Clevedon all 3 points as the cross reached Steve Cook standing virtually on the line. As Cookie moved to tap the ball in a defender just got a foot in first and an own-goal seemed the more likely outcome, however the ball got stuck in the mud and was first smothered and then cleared to safety. The last few minutes belonged to Bedford who put a couple of good free kick opportunities wide, the second of which came after a booking for Kevin Davies for a late tackle, before the referee brought the game to an end for two sets of very weary players.
A good game in difficult conditions, which Clevedon probably deserved to win, but a draw away to a former Conference South side is a good result. Everybody played well and ran their legs off, but special mentions go to Rob Scott, Scott Hendy (who was suffering with a nasty cold) and Danny Greaves who held everything all afternoon.
Gallery
Team Sheet
| No: | Name: | Sub: | Goal: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greaves | ||
| 2 | Davies | ||
| 3 | Haines | ||
| 4 | Leek | ||
| 5 | Hendy | ||
| 6 | Trought | ||
| 7 | Scott (Capt) | ||
| 8 | Bater | ||
| 9 | Symons | ||
| 10 | Prosser | 1 | |
| 11 | Sylvester | ||
| 12 | Brigham | ||
| 14 | Page | 10 | |
| 15 | Bassett | 4 | |
| 16 | Cook | 9 | |
| 17 | - | ||
| Own Goal | - |
Match Details
| Date: | 12/01/08 |
|---|---|
| Competition: | British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division |
| Opponents: | Bedford Town |
| Venue: | The Eyrie Meadow Lane Cardington Bedford MK44 3SB |
| Half Time: | 1 - 1 |
| Full Time: | 1 - 1 |
| Attendance: | 303 |
| Match Report: | Dave Wright |
| Photographs: | Tony Merrett |
Away Kit |
On-Site Recruitment Solutions Ltd |
| Notes: |
Downloads
| Appearances & Goal Scorers | Word Document |
|---|---|
| Team Sheet Matrix | Excel Document |