Tuesday evening gave me a dilemma. I had the opportunity to visit St Neots Town, one of the few Southern Premier grounds that I have yet to cross off my list, or stay quite local and pay a first visit to Buckingham Athletic. In the end, following weather bomb warnings and not particularly wanting to drive for over an hour, I opted for the local option. Stratford Fields is less than 15 miles from home so, even with a 7:30 kick off, I still didn't need to set out until close to 7pm. On arriving I realised that I should have possibly left a few minutes earlier because there was no room left on the car park at the ground. Still, it didn't take too long to find an alternative and I was still at the turnstile well before the teams came out. The clubhouse situated next to the car park, a few yards from the entrance to the ground itself. So, if you do need the facilities or refreshment, like Willen Road last week, you have to exit the ground to do so. There is not too much to say about the Stratford Fields. There is a single covered seating area (above) which I would say holds around 50. The rest of the ground is hard-standing with the dug outs opposite the main stand. The weather bomb hadn't yet shown up but it was very blustery and there was a rain I the air, swirling around in the glow of the floodlights. Thankfully, it was nowhere near as cold as it had been in the last few days and was actually quite pleasant for watching. I shouldn't think it was as good for playing in though. Any ball above head height would be buffeted around in the gusts. This was to become apparent as the game got under way.
The first thing I noticed, once the game had started, was the colour clash between Bedford and the referee. Bedford play in black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. However, the back of their shirts is solid black. The referee, in his all black kit, looked remarkably like a Bedford player from the back. This didn't seem to bother either team or the officials.
For the first 30 minutes or so, the match was very evenly balanced. Neither side could get a grip on the game, or the ball. The conditions were certainly not helping and the pitch immediately cut up enough to make passes along the ground unpredictable. It was the home side, on a pretty bad run of form, who came the closest in this period, hitting the bar with a close range header that looped over the keeper after 14 minutes. The rest of the half was fairly unremarkable except for the fact that the longer it went on, the more that Bedford began to get on top.
The second half began as the first had ended, with Bedford just about edging possession and looking the more likely to break the deadlock. Sure enough, just 8 minutes into the half, they took the lead when a break down the left lead to a very neat finish past the keepers left hand. 1-0 to the away team and, just about, deserved.
To be fair to Buckingham, going a goal down didn't deflate them and they continued to battle away, trying to get a foothold on the game. Too many times good moves broke down when a pass went astray. The most likely source of a Buckingham equaliser looked like an attack down their right where the tricky little winger showed, once or twice, that he could beat his man, However, there was never really the end product from any of these moves and the away keeper was not stretched at all as far as I can remember. When they did managed to fashion an opportunity for a shot the Bedford right-back, who was having a pretty good game IMO, threw himself in front of the shot and got a good block in.
Inevitably, with the home side trying to find an equaliser, they were caught out at the other end. With about 5 minutes left on the clock a rash challenge lead to a Bedford free-kick about 25 yards out. The kick was smashed against the keepers left hand post and rebounded across the face of the goal to give the alert, onrushing Bedford forward a simple tap in. The free-kick stood out as a moment of quality in what had been a decent, but 'industrious' game of football which had no doubt been affected by the conditions.
Bedford climb to third place in the Spartan South Midland Division 1 table while Athletic continue to look over their shoulders with just 4 points separating them from second-bottom Amersham Town.
Buckingham Athletic - @buckinghamath
Bedford FC - @Bedford_fc
The first thing I noticed, once the game had started, was the colour clash between Bedford and the referee. Bedford play in black and white striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. However, the back of their shirts is solid black. The referee, in his all black kit, looked remarkably like a Bedford player from the back. This didn't seem to bother either team or the officials.
For the first 30 minutes or so, the match was very evenly balanced. Neither side could get a grip on the game, or the ball. The conditions were certainly not helping and the pitch immediately cut up enough to make passes along the ground unpredictable. It was the home side, on a pretty bad run of form, who came the closest in this period, hitting the bar with a close range header that looped over the keeper after 14 minutes. The rest of the half was fairly unremarkable except for the fact that the longer it went on, the more that Bedford began to get on top.
The second half began as the first had ended, with Bedford just about edging possession and looking the more likely to break the deadlock. Sure enough, just 8 minutes into the half, they took the lead when a break down the left lead to a very neat finish past the keepers left hand. 1-0 to the away team and, just about, deserved.
To be fair to Buckingham, going a goal down didn't deflate them and they continued to battle away, trying to get a foothold on the game. Too many times good moves broke down when a pass went astray. The most likely source of a Buckingham equaliser looked like an attack down their right where the tricky little winger showed, once or twice, that he could beat his man, However, there was never really the end product from any of these moves and the away keeper was not stretched at all as far as I can remember. When they did managed to fashion an opportunity for a shot the Bedford right-back, who was having a pretty good game IMO, threw himself in front of the shot and got a good block in.
Inevitably, with the home side trying to find an equaliser, they were caught out at the other end. With about 5 minutes left on the clock a rash challenge lead to a Bedford free-kick about 25 yards out. The kick was smashed against the keepers left hand post and rebounded across the face of the goal to give the alert, onrushing Bedford forward a simple tap in. The free-kick stood out as a moment of quality in what had been a decent, but 'industrious' game of football which had no doubt been affected by the conditions.
Bedford climb to third place in the Spartan South Midland Division 1 table while Athletic continue to look over their shoulders with just 4 points separating them from second-bottom Amersham Town.
Buckingham Athletic - @buckinghamath
Bedford FC - @Bedford_fc
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