Real Bedford win convincingly against Arlesey Town on the road
The Pirates maintained their unbeaten start to the league with a victory over Arlesey, thanks to another Joey Evans hat-trick.
Bedford travelled to Arlesey Town on Tuesday as cup competitions have given limited opportunities to play league matches in August. With some teams having played five league games, The Pirates have only played twice, winning against MK Irish and drawing away to Cockfosters.
In a one-sided affair, Bedford had control of possession for most of the game, leading to the home side having only two shots on target. The Pirates set the standard for the game early on, controlling possession in defence and launching wave after wave of attack, with a defensively set Arlesey looking to hit the visitors on the counter.
The first chance for Bedford came within 10 minutes. After a blocked shot from Mo Ahmed, the ball fell to Lee Watkins, who fizzed a pass out wide to Matt Clifford. The left-back's delivery was inches away from finding Joey Evans, who rose above the Arlesey defence but failed to connect with the ball.
Eddie Corbit was tested at right-back in the second half against Rothwell and retained the position for this match. Stretching the midfield, he found space in advanced positions and nearly created the opening goal. Taking the ball out wide, he whipped it across the face of the goal, but nobody could get a touch on it.
Real Bedford continued pressuring the Arlesey defence until it finally cracked. A Mo Ahmed run into the box was met with a push on the winger's back from Arlesey defender, Adam Turner, which left the referee pointing to the spot. Joey Evans stepped and smashed the ball past Ollie Skinner in goal to get The Pirates off the mark.
More half chances fell to Bedford as the first half progressed. A good ball across the face of goal from Ben Stevens found Evans, who produced too heavy a touch to get a good strike away. Eddie Corbit also delivered more balls from out wide, which came tantalisingly close to a second goal; however, despite having complete control of the game, Bedford entered the half-time break with a slender lead.
Second Half
Bedford continued to pile pressure onto Arlesey after the half-time break and, this time, appeared to be getting closer to scoring. Mo Ahmed twice had the opportunity to double the lead. Firstly, he broke into the box and rounded the goalkeeper, but his shot was well blocked out for a corner. His second chance came from a delicate chip over the defence, but Ollie Skinner, in goal, thwarted his attempt to head it around him, keeping the game at 1-0.
As Bedford pushed for the second, the home side came back into the game and put the visitors under concerted pressure for fifteen minutes. Some sloppy passing from the pirates and an increase in intensity from Arlesey shifted the game's balance, and the home side nearly levelled when Bruno Brito broke free of The Pirate's defence, forcing a good parry from Tyler McGregor in goal.
Arlesey's spirited return to the game was ended when substitute Alex Taylor was sent for an early shower. He was shown two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for a bad challenge on Eddie Corbit and the second for diving.
With a man advantage and with 10 minutes to go, Bedford doubled their lead. The away side worked the play well, finding Eddie Corbit out wide, who crossed the ball into the path of Archie Jones, who in turn laid it off to Joey Evans to stroke into the bottom right corner for his brace.
90 seconds later, The Pirates completed the scoring with Joey Evans getting his second hat-trick in successive matches. This time, Josh Setchell made inroads from out wide before passing to Evans, who wrapped his foot around the ball to curl it into the top right corner from outside the box.
Real Bedford return to action this Saturday on the road against Tring Athletic. Come down to support the team, or watch via the live stream link on the website.
RBFC: RBFC: McGregor, Corbit, Clifford, Wood ©, Swain, Smith, Stevens, Watkins, Evans, Jones, Ahmed (Setcell 76’)
Unused Subs: Knight, Steele, Gordon, Taylor
Arlesey Town 0 - 3 Real Bedford
29th August, 2023
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Location: New Lamb Meadow
