Eagles suffer opening day defeat at Oxford City
Bedford Town slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Oxford City in their opening National League North clash on Saturday.
A strong away following had made the relatively short trip to the MGround Stadium at the weekend and were full of enthusiasm, heightened by the Eagles’ positive start. They had Oxford pinned in their own half, but the only real opportunity created was Greg Taylor’s snap-shot from a set-piece comfortably saved by Jon Maxted.
The hosts then came into the game as visiting stopper Laurie Walker was forced into some useful stops, denying ex-Bedford striker Tyrone Marsh and then preventing Oxford player-coach Matt Taylor from scoring twice. Just before the break, Bedford had their best chance of the half, Eno Nto speeding away on the right wing to find George Moncur, whose shot was deflected narrowly over the top.
Minutes into the second period and Moncur was threatening again, this time fashioning a shooting position, unleashing a good strike from the edge of the box that produced a fine stop Maxted. Taylor was off target, as Bedford had a penalty shout on 75 minutes, Junior Gyamfi seemingly tripped by the Oxford defender, but the referee waved away the Eagles’ appeals.
Soon after, City had the lead, as Ludwig Francillette rose above Lewis Franklin at the back post to put the ball past Walker after Bedford hadn’t cleared their lines. The closing stages saw the away side toil in search of an equaliser, but they grew increasingly frustrated, Oxford having the best opportunity, striking the bar with a header, Dillon De Silva also firing over on the volley. Bedford welcome Darlington this weekend.
» Bedford Town made two new signings before their trip to Oxford City, centre half Anthony Stewart and midfielder David Hicks both joining, the latter joining on a month’s loan. A club statement on the pair said: “Former Wycombe Wanderers stalwart has more than 250 EFL appearances under his belt, and played in the Europa League during a spell at Aberdeen.
“He also scored Wycombe’s first goal as they defeated Oxford United in the 2020 League One play-off final, and started at White Hart Lane in their 4-3 FA Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in 2017. Stewart was most recently playing for Peterborough Sports, where he made 19 appearances last season. He has signed a one year contract with the Eagles.
“The new defender will bring the valuable leadership traits to the squad that come from playing at a high level. Hicks started his career coming through the Stevenage youth system, with loan spells at Potters Bar Town and then Aveley, where he made 16 National League South appearances. The new signing left Stevenage in August 2025 to join Reading, where he made 19 Premier League 2 appearances last season, being involved in six goals.”
» Eagles striker Michael Gyasi has joined Southern League Premier Division Central side Kettering Town on loan for two months.