The Eagles crept into the last playoff position on Tuesday night, after a 1-0 win against form side, Hednesford Town.
Resilience and a slice of luck contributed to the victory, as Harry Smart’s depleted squad took advantage of the proceedings, as a post, and an own goal added to the drama.
The Eagles’ boss was forced into one change from the side that won at Scarborough over the weekend, as Sonnie Davis came in for the unavailable Tarik Gidaree.
The first talking point of the game came in the 6th minute when Alfie Thornett and Dylan Mottley-Henry collided in the Bedford area. A big shout for a penalty to the visitors went up, as the referee waved play on, but soon had to stop the game so both players could receive treatment.
The 1st half was lively, as both sides looked for the chance to open the scoring.
On 17 minutes, Josh Castiglione tried a daring shot very close to the right byline, after he was fed the ball by Lewis Franklin, but Will Murdock was on his near post to direct it off for a corner.
Seven minutes later, Hednesford were awarded a penalty, when Franklin was adjudged to have pushed George Ward. Ahkeem Rose stepped up to fire the spot kick against the right hand post, and judging by the strength of the rebound, the ball was struck hard.
A Bedford free kick then tested the visiting defence, as Castiglione played the ball in, but a couple of minutes later the defence capitulated when a Davis run on the left wing ended with a cross that George Williams smashed into his own net, when he tried to cut out the cross from finding the unmarked Reece Evans, and Bedford had the lead on 31 minutes.
Bedford kept up the pressure with a Danny Anisjko cross that was missed by everyone in a blue shirt. Franklin then scuffed an effort just inside the area.
A double substitution at half time for the Pitmen signalled the intention by boss Kelvin Davis - father of the Bedford defender - to mix things up, and it worked.
From the start of the 2nd half, the away side rushed out of the proverbial blocks to try and overturn the deficit.
One of the subs, Sonny Sharples, put the ball just wide of the Bedford woodwork from 22 yards away, following an early attack.
A half cleared free kick was then played back into the area, and Laurie Walker came to collect.
A bit of head tennis from another Hednesford corner was eventually cleared, and all this came in the first ten minutes of the half.
Jamie Cooke then whipped in a dangerous ball from the left, with no one in the area to take advantage.
Walker then had to be alert as Joel Taylor cut in to the left byline, and put in a wicked, swirling ball that the Eagles ‘keeper had to deflect away, and winning a corner when Cooke tried to keep up the pressure. From this, when the ball came over, Aaron Jarvis’ diving header went completely askew, and ended up going off near the corner flag.
Having survived the first part of the half, Bedford then came back with a corner of their own, when Castiglione, on receiving the kick back, tried to find a gap, but came up with nothing. Bedford then sent the ball all the way back to Walker, who found George Moncur on the right wing, and a bit of magic later saw him get past two defenders to feed David Hicks, on the right corner of the area, but Hicks shot wide.
Davis then got into a good position for receiving a ball into the area, but saw two defenders sliding in to block his eventual shot.
Another slice of luck went Bedford’s way at the next Hednesford corner, a Williams met the ball to power a header against the bar, and as it rebounded off, it hit the head of a defender before looping just over the bar for another corner.
With time wearing on, Lenni Cirino then went down in the area, but the referee waved play on.
Walker then stamped his authority when claiming a 30 yard free kick.
The guardian then denied a venomous curling effort from Omari Sterling-James.
As the game entered ‘added time’ the Bedford defence closed ranks in defending a free kick and a corner, as an almighty scramble was finally cleared from the latter set piece.
Not long after, the final whistle blew, and another welcome three points stayed at the Eyrie.