Two red cards as battling Bedford Town crash at Buxton
Nine-man Bedford fell victim to a 3-0 away defeat at the hands of a superb Buxton side on Saturday afternoon as both Ellis Brown and Tyrone Marsh saw red.
But manager Lee Bircham was pleased with how well his side battled with the two man deficit.
“It is hard enough with 11, let alone trying to do this with nine,” he said.
“But it could have been another Merthyr – and it wasn't.
“The nine men had a go and it was 0-0 second half. We will have to take that as a little win as playing 40 minutes up the hill with nine men, they have put a shift in.
“A lot of players have let us down again today. But that happens when you are in a relegation battle – they don't mean it.
“We are short on bodies now so it is difficult – we may have to bring a couple in as it's bare bones.
“We have six cup finals to go and we've given ourselves a little 'in'. But we need to keep boys on the football pitch.
“We have go to have a go and leave everything on the pitch – and stay on the pitch.”
Both sides looked lively in the opening stages, but despite good play, neither could find the target.
Johnny Johnston showed his abilities early on, evading challenges and persisting through tackles to deliver a low cross with nobody in the right place to reward his efforts.
After a skirmish in the penalty area, the ball fell fortunately for Johnston to slot home the opener from close range, with Nathan Ashmore given little chance at a response, a deserved lead for a team growing in confidence.
But Town were reduced to 10 due to an off-the-ball incident involving Brown raising an arm, the fightback becoming more difficult.
The hosts looked good value throughout the first half, doing well to shut out Bedford, and it was only a matter of time before they doubled their advantage.
When Ashton Mee’s long-range effort took a heavy deflection, Ashmore was helpless to keep it out, a deserved second goal for the team in control.
Not content with two, Buxton won the ball back immediately from kick-off, and a sublime ball from Connor Douglas gave Johnston all the time he needed to slot a third past Ashmore.
A rare chance of goal for Bedford could only loop over as George Moncur got himself onto the end of a set-piece.
Soon after, Johnston looked to be in again, but he was well marshalled by Ryan Cole who prevented the Buxton man from getting a sniff at a hat-trick.
Following another incident with the ball out of play and an apparent kickout, it was Marsh making the walk back to the dressing room, reduced to nine, the task now near impossible for Bedford.
After this valuable interventions from, Ashmore, including key stops and claims, prevented any more damage in the closing stages, meaning Bedford escaped the second half unscathed.
Next up for The Eagles is a trip to play-off chasing AFC Telford United on Saturday, who will be looking to avenge Bedford’s 3-1 victory over them in August.