Bedford Town leave it late to snatch point at Redditch United

The point keeps the Eagles unbeaten in five and, although they are on the same points as Halesowen and Telford, the side have dropped down to third on goal difference.

Every game is tough, but the next three games are against sides looking for a play-off place, starting with the visit of fifth-placed Stamford to the Eyrie on Saturday, which is also national Non-League Day with all football fans welcome to get their fix.

Last weekend's game wasn’t pretty to watch as the home side were playing for their survival in the division, and spurred on by their largest crowd of the season, even Bedford, at the top of the pile at the start of the day, knew this was going to be an extremely torturous 90 minutes.

“Every team is difficult in this league, especially away from home,” said manager Bircham.

“We weren't great today but we put a shift in.

“We got the point in the end and it was the least we deserved today – I have nothing but praise for the boys. We took a whack with their goal but got back into it and showed some spirit.

“We are not a team chasing points, we're just taking it one game at a time and trying to do our best. It's for other teams to do that. We are just enjoying the ride and seeing where we go as it's been a phenomenal season.”

For the first 15 minutes the game was fairly cagey, with just an Anthony Dwyer shot that was comfortably saved by Jameson Horlick, the only real effort of note.

A couple of minutes later, though, a Sam Brown throw into the area was glanced on by Harlain Mbayo, and backheaded by Lewis Green onto the bar.

Just after the half-hour, Bedford had the ball in the net with what looked like a perfectly good goal, as Bruno Andrade received a tricky forward pass and put the ball over a defender to then control and fire past Oliver Taylor.

The referee, however, saw something to blow for a Redditch free kick, and the only assumption was a high boot from the Bedford striker when beating his marker.

Just before the break, a scramble in the Bedford area was successfully defended and countered, with Leon Lobjoit bearing down on goal and forcing a save from Taylor.

Early in the second half, Andrade saw a shot blocked, then a Redditch free kick bypassed everyone in the crowded area.

Lobjoit was then denied by a clearance off the line that gave Bedford a corner.

From this, though, came the opening goal of the game, as Redditch not only defended, but played the ball upfield, and a Rivel Mardenborough pass found Dwyer, who chested the ball down, unopposed, and fired past Horlick.

Not long after the goal, Bircham introduced Eddie Panter to the game to add a bit more speed to the attack, and he soon made his mark with a pass that saw Ryan Blake have a shot that Taylor palmed away.

Lobjoit then had a shot deflected off for a corner, before some desperate defending denied another Blake effort, after Panter had crossed in.

Bedford kept up the pressure against a solid and resilient Redditch defence, and with a minute of normal time remaining an exquisite lob from Lobjoit had Taylor stretching every sinew to save.

There was no board to indicate added time, and as it went into the fifth minute, the referee pointed to the spot after Panter was tripped by Dexter Dudley-Toole, as the sub was about to shoot.

A minute went by before Lobjoit stepped up with the ball, and slammed it down the middle to give Bedford the equaliser.