Last kick leveller for Bedford Town stuns leaders Kettering Town

A first half Ryan Blake strike and last minute Carl Mensah equaliser proved enough to earn a superb point in front of a bumper crowd at Latimer Park.

Blake opened the scoring before Kettering hit back to lead and looked certain to win until the last kick of the game when Mensah fired home for Bedford.

The Eagles got off to the best possible start in the match after catching the Poppies on the counter attack.

A great ball through from Junior Gyamfi sent Ryan Blake through on goal, and he made no mistake with the finish to give the visitors a crucial lead.

The home side responded well to this and soon found an equaliser.

A throw in was flicked on by Nile Ranger to Isiah Noel-Williams, whose effort was like a rocket into the bottom corner to level the match.

It was in the second half where most of the chances were with both sides pushing.

Bedford’s team performance, spirit and work ethic had been something to be admired for the whole match.

Kettering had a few half chances but then grabbed the lead with just under 15 minutes to play.

This came after some nice play on the edge of the box by the Poppies which allowed Andi Thanoj to score an excellent half volley.

With the clock ticking away, Bedford were chucking everything they had at an equaliser.

The Eagles came agonisingly close in the dying minutes when Mensah’s deflected header rattled the crossbar.

However, Bedford weren’t done as they won a free kick on the edge of the box in what was to be the last kick of the game.

Rob Hall was subbed on to take it with his first touch.

Hall’s ball in was pushed away desperately by Daniel Jezeph in goal, which led to a big scramble where, after some pinball, eventually the ball fell to Mensah, who slotted away the leveller the last kick of the game to spark wild celebrations.

The referee blew his whistle shortly afterwards which was followed by a scuffle between the two sides that saw both red and yellow cards dished out by the referee in response.