Match Report: Bedworth United v Royston Town

Date Saturday 24 January 2015
Match Bedworth United v Royston Town
Competition Evo-Stik League Southern: Division One Central
Result Lost 4-0
Attendance
192
Royston Scorers
Crows MoM
Ryan Lockett

The Crows' first competitive match on a 3G artificial surface was always going to be a tough challenge and the fact that it was against a good Bedworth team sitting third in the league only made the task more difficult. Steve Castle was hoping to field an unchanged team that had won five on the spin but illness and injury robbed him of Ross Collins and Ryan Ingrey respectively and with Kaan Fehmi given time off for family reasons he was forced to make three changes bringing Scott Bridges, Reece Dobson and Gary Hart into the starting XI.

It's reasonable to assume that the surface would give the home team a significant advantage however Bedworth's home form did not support this and with the Crows training on a similar surface they entered the game in confident mood. Unfortunately that confidence was short lived as the frantic early pace left the Crows chasing shadows and struggling to get a foothold in the game and Bedworth took advantage of their early dominance when Daniel Creaney rose unchallenged in the 6th minute to head home from a well delivered free kick. The hectic pace continued and although the Crows started to adapt, Bedworth had the better chances and thoroughly deserved their slender half time lead.

The second period started at the same tempo and as the Crows grew in confidence they created their best chance in the game. In the 51st minute Scott Bridges drifted into the box and beat the keeper with a low shot only to see it cleared off the line. Three minutes later Bedworth doubled their lead when Scott Bridges lost a midfield scramble for the ball and Bedworth broke away with clinical efficiency leaving Danny Dubidat with a simple tap in.

Steve Castle then gambled in an attempt to rescue the game and sacrificed defensive midfielder Spyros Mentis for Robbie Nightingale and a few minutes later Craig Hammond for the hard working Ryan Lockett. Four minutes later the game was effectively over when Bedworth's Alex Naughton dispossessed Robbie Nightingale in midfield and drove on shrugging off Liam McDevitt's challenge and fired home to make it 3-0. Castle then made his final change bringing on debutant George Boot for Gary Hart giving him a free role to get hold of the ball and whilst he showed plenty of endeavour he was unable to halt a buoyant Bedworth team who wrapped up the game in the 88th minute when sub David Blenkinsopp completed the scoring.

Team: Yates, Wharton, Watters, Mentis (Nightingale), Theobald, McDevitt, Bridges Scott, Bridges Stuart, Hart (Boot) Lockett (Hammond), Dobson.

Unused Subs: Bradshaw, Powell