A bank holiday battle at the Oval resulted in a 1-1 draw with St Neots Town as the Greenbacks have to settle for a point despite being denied by the crossbar twice.
A sunny day presented itself at the Oval in what was an important match for both sides battling against relegation.
Bedworth had a great chance in the opening minute. Teddy Rowe delivered a brilliant free kick to the penalty spot but Elliot Parrott couldn’t get enough on his header to get it on target.
However, St Neots had a goal disallowed after 4 minutes, Mj Muyembe had a shot that was scuffed but the ball bounced its way to the back post where Keado Bugyei-Kwei was to be judged to be interfering with play before the ball crossed the line, so the linesman ruled the winger offside.
After a dramatic start to the game,the game was very stop-start and was no real flow for either side. There wasn’t a chance until the 36th minute. Samson Hewett’s volley from just outside the box was well held by James Goff in the St Neots goal.
Two minutes later, Teddy Rowe came so close to opening the scoring. Oscar Barry launched it forward for Matthew Shipman to chase, he held the ball up and delivered a low cross into the path on the late-entering Teddy Rowe who hit his shot first time that looked goal bound but James Goff did brilliantly to tip the ball over for a corner.
But just before the break, it was the visitors that took the lead. Harvey Williams picked the ball up in his own half, and used his speed to race past Connor Mooney, he cut in on his left footed and managed to get a shot away from the edge of the box, it took a slight deflection and the ball found its way in the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 to St Neots.
But Bedworth responded immediately and equalised in added time of the first half. Matthew Shipman won a freekick in a dangerous area. Teddy Rowe stepped up and despite the St Neots wall creeping forwards a few yards, Rowe curled in a beautiful free kick in the top right corner, leaving keeper James Goff helpless. 1-1.
A first half that started lively, and ended with twoi goals in the space of two minutes.
HALF TIME: Bedwoth United 1-1 St Neots Town
St Neots started the better side in the second half and had an early chance through Kwado Burgyei-Kyei. Rhys Thorpe played a nice ball wide for the winger to run into space, but his shot was straight at Highland.
Elliot Parrott had an effort cleared off the line from a corner on 56 minutes. A brilliant corner from Hewett was aimed at the back post for Parrott to head in but St Neots defenders threw themselves in front of the ball to keep the Greenbacks at bay.
Bedworth had a good chance on the 73rd minute. Will Highland launched a counter attack with a long ball forward to George Dunkley, he layed it off to Samson Hewett who had more time than he thought but he blazed over.
Rhys Thorpe had a long range shot curl just wide. The visitors number 9 found himself in some space outside the box and tried his luck that had Higland scrambling but thankfully the ball just went wide.
But Harry Craven went so close to taking the lead on the 81st minute as the centre back was denied by the crossbar. Samson Hewett delivered another dangerous corner that Craven got on the end of with a powerful header but his effort crashed off the bar.
Bedworth were unbelievably denied a late winner, Samson Hewett stepped up to a freekick just outside the box, he whipped it with power but his freekick cannoned off the bar to deny the Greenback for the second time of the afternoon.
That wasn’t the last chance that Bedworth had to win the game. George Dunkley’s solo run resulted in getting a shot away from a tight angle but was denied by James Goff.
A frantic second half with both teams needing a win and giving everything, so a draw wasn’t ideal for either team.
FULL TIME: Bedworth United 1-1 St Neots Town
Starting line up:
Highland, Blakely, Mooney, Parrott, Craven, Flanagan, Hewett, Barry, Shipman(Monaghan), Rowe(Ngbeken-Itota), Gordon (Dunkley)
