This week, Hertford welcomed visitors Bedford 2nd XI - a town known for having one of the largest
Italian communities in the UK outside London.

Hertford felt full of heart and energy: Adam Price provided the former, buoyed by anticipation for his
evening date, while Rob Holman supplied the latter in his urgent quest to relieve his bowls. Even a
desperate clutch and the newly unveiled Portaloo in the club car park couldn’t ease such drama.
Hertford deployed their new zonal marking strategy, which showed encouraging signs defensively whilst
also enabling in attack. On the 22nd minute allowing Hertford to go from back to front – a defensive 16
being placed into Price in midfield who then unlocked the Bedford defence with an aerial, setting Archie
Akers free behind the defensive line who could then draw in the Bedford goalkeeper, allowing Gary
Brown to finish into an empty goal.

Hertford’s new zonal marking system looked suspiciously well-organised - tight at the back and ready to
counter with purpose. Just two minutes in, Pete Sharman pinged a diagonal ball to the right wing, where
James Rollins tore down the baseline and squared it for Gary Brown to tap in.

In the 22nd minute, a defensive 16 was zipped into Adam Price, who - clearly inspired by the promise of
romance later that evening - floated an aerial pass with the kind of soft precision usually reserved for
after dark. Archie Akers, returning from a brief layoff due to a gardening-related back injury (allegedly
sustained while overcommitting to his floral bed), timed his run to perfection. Slipping behind the Bedford
defence, he drew out the keeper and squared it for Brown to slot home his second into an empty net.
Three minutes later, Bedford hit back, counter-attacking in numbers after Hertford’s short corner broke
down. Aaron Matthews made a save from an upright reverse, but a scrappy passage of play saw the ball
fall kindly for a Bedford striker to slot home.

HT: Hertford 2 – 1 Bedford

Bedford started the second half sharply, winning a short corner
within six minutes. The attacker trapped the ball on his reverse, had
so much time he could’ve picked his spot, framed it, and hung it in
the clubhouse - before flicking it into the top left corner.
Hertford stuck with their newly discovered press, and although
Bedford had a couple of breakaway chances, it was Hertford asking
all the questions — with the most suggestive coming from Price,
who received the ball at the top of the D and calmly struck it into the
bottom corner, as if to ask: 'Fancy seeing me score tonight?’

In the dying moments, there was still more drama to come. An
aerial from Jonny Goodson was expertly brought down by Akers
high up the pitch, who laid it off for Brown — and despite a frame
more suited to bulldozing than ballet, he pirouetted around the
onrushing keeper before hammering home his third of the
afternoon.

FT: Hertford 4 – 2 Bedford

Next week, Hertford make the long beach trip to Southend, while
Price heads off to watch The Kooks on date number two.