Eagles soar in four-goal win

With Lee Roache injured, Jemale McKenzie-Lowe moved out of defence and into attack.

Tommy Hull – starting his first game of the season on Saturday – slotted back into central defence while Josh Oyibo was given his debut.

Bedford were on the front foot from the start and McKenzie-Lowe had a shot deflected off for a corner with just five minutes gone.

The Eagles took the lead two minutes later, thanks to a mazy run along the right byline by Bradley Woods-Garness.

The striker saw his eventual cross into the danger area half-cleared but only to Paul Cooper, who didn’t need an invitation to shoot as he sweetly struck the ball into the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

Chalfont’s best spell came after the half-hour and an equaliser nearly came when George Fenton’s venomous shot came off the bar, bounced on the line and was cleared.

The second-half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Bedford having the lion’s share of the possession.

Their persistence paid off in the 59th minute when another run from Woods-Garness, also on the right byline, ended with a neat pass to McKenzie-Lowe, who passed the ball into the net for 2-0, leaving Carl Dennison in the Chalfont goal rooted to the spot.

Four minutes later, a Bedford attack looked to have broken down when Dennison raced out of his area to beat McKenzie-Lowe to the ball.

But the clearance only went to Josh Oyibo and from 40 yards the midfielder sent a high ball back from whence it came that flew over Dennison, bounced once and hit the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

All Chalfont had to show for the half was a curling shot that went wide of the mark from Ryan Lewis.

Kyle Forster in the Bedford goal was never tested and when he was needed, came out and denied the rare Chalfont attacks.

The Eagles added a fourth right on 90 minutes.

A neat piece of play ended with a Woods-Garness pass into the area, from the right, and Ashton Grant’s first-time shot from the corner of the area beat the unprotected Dennison.

Pleasingly for Bedford, there were four different scorers and Woods-Garness claimed a hat-trick of assists.

Next up for the Eagles is a rearranged match this Saturday where they will now be playing Dunstable Town away in the Bedfordshire Senior Cup (3pm kick-off).