Bedford 035’s through to the Semi-Finals

The maroons were dealt a blow in the run up to the game as Andrea Mason fractured her thumb against Norwich Dragons whilst midfield maestro Katherine Winger was only fit enough for the bench however Kelly Bingham and Sherri Fensom were back after missing the 8-0 win against Colchester in the last round. As expected the match was a highly competitive, tight affair against two closely matched sides. Bedford edged the early exchanges and dutch striker Yvette Van Yperen struck an early goal after good work down the left by MOTM Becca Budd and Fensom. Bedford fought hard for every 50-50 ball and pressed the Tangerine defence but St Alban's grew into the contest and pulled themselves back on level terms after a baseline run and close range finish. The bouncy pitch was causing Bedford a few problems with some mis-traps and wayward passes during the first 35 but the teams spirit and work rate was more than enough to compensate with centre back duo Sarah Bentley and Steph Young making some vital tackles. Chances were limited for both sides but Alexis Broadway had a snapshot narrowly wide whilst Bedford keeper Kerri Surman had to be alert on a couple of occasions to snuffle tangerine shots with her feet.

At half time Bedford stressed the importance of playing a simple, short passing game through their midfield and Bedford looked the stronger side in the second half. Hannah Shanahan was enjoying an excellent game at right defence putting on some great cover and finding gaps with her passes whilst Harri Kinnear was able to rampage forward to good effect down the left. Bedford’s midfield quartet shone with Fensom bullish with her tackling, Heidi Langley covering every blade of grass, Budd able to gain considerable yards despite having to ride a number of industrial challenges and Kelly Bingham’s pace and energy creating problems throughout. Bedford re-took the lead and unsurprisingly it was Van Yperen who got her brace, a luscious, pin-point penalty corner strike but the lead didn’t last long as St Alban's clawed themselves on level terms again when a ball, which was fired across the face of goal, was deflected home as an OG at the near post.

Bedford retained their composure and desire and Hannah Scott re-joined the fray, buoyed by the backing of her own personal supporters club but there was to be no fairy-tale late goal for Bedford’s talismanic striker and the scores remained tied at 2 each despite a last gasp penalty corner defence which due to early breaking, went down to just Surnam and two defenders behind the line after the final whistle had blown. The game was therefore to be decided via nail biting shootout with the visitors scoring 4/5 of their strokes whilst hero goalie Surnam saved two of the St Alban's attempts to seal Bedford a semi-finals berth where they will face either Bowdon, Olton + WW or Canterbury on Sunday 12th March.