Bedford Blues

Hertford saw their recent form desert them at the weekend, slipping to a 0-2 home defeat to Bedford 3s.

Stan Power returned from injury at the base of midfield and Ciaran Begg replaced the unavailable Ben van Rooyen up front. With Mike Hawes also unavailable for the clash, Ian Dunnett was positioned as a make-shift centre back, partnering Ben Tootell.

Bedford started on top, with some skilful midfield play, winning a succession of penalty corners, only being denied by a combination of determined closing down by Elliot Barling and solid work on the line by a combination of Gavin Elliot and man-of-the-match Max Capaldi.
Bedford thought they had won a penalty stroke when Capaldi felled a centre forward in the D, but after some consultation the umpires adjudged that the ball was going away from goal and was not under control as the challenge came in.

Hertford gained some composure and won a few short corners of their own, but twice the injection failed to reach its target and the set piece opportunity was lost.

Although the hosts improved their ball retention and tried to penetrate the deep-sitting Bedford defence, a frustrating first half petered out a goalless conclusion.

The second half saw Hertford play with more intent, moving the ball confidently and quickly through the midfield, but still unable to create many clear-cut chances. This reduced Bedford to playing on the break, but with a brace of quick forwards to release there was always a threat.

It was Bedford who recorded the first blow. When playing the ball across defence, Hertford were forced into a hasty clearance, giving the visitors a sideline ball in an advanced position. The hit was taken before Hertford's midfield was able to recover and an advancing midfielder arced around the back of the defence, pulling back a pass for an on-rushing forward to glance a tidy finish into the far corner.

Hertford reapplied themselves, but were out of synch and found the same dogged rearguard tough to break down. Despite a number of set-pieces, Bedford were only forced to make one goal-line save from a dragged Nick Downer effort.

Bedford doubled their advantage to put the tie out of reach. Following some good defending Hertford tried to play the ball out from the back, but one pass too many lost them possession in a dangerous area. The Bedford forward drove into the D and fired straight at the goal, where a waiting teammate neatly deflected the ball high into the net from three yards out.

Frustration grew for the home side, with Ben Cooper's rare off-day getting the better of him as he was given a green card in the final two minutes.

With only one game to go before the Christmas break Hertford will be looking to finish with a home win as they face Berkhamsted 2s, having drawn 3-3 with them on the opening day of the season.

Hertford: Max Capaldi; Elliot Barling, Ben Tootell, Ian Dunnett, Gavin Elliot; Alec Short (Cpt), Stan Power, Nick Downer, Mike Branford; Ben Cooper, Darren Norman. Subs: Jeremiah Donogue, Ciaran Begg.