Bedford slip to fourth defeat on the bounce

SJ Darrington returned to an otherwise unchanged Bedford squad for the visit of title chasing Sevenoaks, who are coached by South African, two time Olympian Jen Wilson. Bedford sadly made a poor start with some unforced errors in the opening minutes putting the maroons on the back foot. Leanne Sargeant in the Bedford goal was in for a busy first half and she made a fantastic stick save from the Kent sides first short corner before Sam Turner made a miraculous clearance off the line with the goal gaping for the Sevenoaks forward. It wasn’t long before the visitors took the lead from a 6th minute penalty corner.

Jenna Maclaren tried to lead the Bedford response with some excellent, aggressive tackles but when they did win the ball back, Martin Mason-McLeod’s side looked devoid of confidence and failed to get any meaningful spells of pressure in the opening half. It was a containing game for Bedford as their opponents found pockets of space and moved the ball with quality leading to a second goal mid way through the half.

After the break, Bedford stepped up their game with Clare Bilham and Claire Higginson leading a more assertive press whilst Emma Pinny provided her usual energic display from the middle of the pitch. Bedford were now looking for opportunities back into the contest and a couple of Rachel Jackson and Beth Noble corners were testing the Oaks defence which was proving resolute. Although the maroons were improved, they were still turning over possession cheaply in key areas and Sevenoaks struck a sucker punch blow from a penalty corner to leave the final score 3-0.

After playing the leagues top 3 sides back to back, Bedford next head to the other newly promoted team in the division Barnes, looking to get back to winning ways.