Bedford claim point and clean sheet on the road at Radcliffe
Bedford Town claimed a point on the road and kept a clean sheet against high-scorers Radcliffe as neither team could find the net in a stop-start 0-0 National League North affair on Saturday.
Lee Bircham’s side started the better of the two sides, with some early chances from crosses flashing across the face of goal, but with no one to meet them, they proved no challenge to the home goal.
Radcliffe looked to have taken a valid lead when Matt Sargent’s cross was met with a neat finish by captain Jordan Hulme, only for the flag to go up — for whom unclear, but a lucky escape for Bedford.
Shortly after, Rio Clegg won the ball back well, and his ambitious dipping effort almost caught out Nathan Ashmore as it whistled over.
Leon Lobjoit tried to test Mateusz Hewelt’s concentration with a clean enough strike that was well, but routinely, saved.
In an end-to-end game, Clegg looked like a bright spark again, weaving his way level with the six-yard box, with his near-post shot catching the woodwork, trickling along the goal line before eventually being cleared.
Despite a scrappy ending to the first half, there was nothing scrappy about Danny Greenfield’s run into the box.
After evading several challenges and having his initial shot blocked, the ball fell kindly for Radcliffe’s 22, but his connection was somehow matched by Nathan Ashmore in the Bedford goal, with a superb save high to his left.
Ashmore was called into action twice more — firstly saving Clegg’s shot with his left foot as the forward looked to find the bottom left — before, minutes later, lurching across his goal line to save an otherwise certain goal when the ball was played across the area.
The main incident of the match came with two minutes to go, as Danny Greenfield saw a second yellow for simulation — an area in which referee Liam Smith was keen to clamp down on throughout the match.
Radcliffe could have won it at the death, but it was Ashmore again who denied them low to his left, summing up another heroic performance in a Bedford shirt.