Eagles fly away with all 3 points

Leighton Town FC 1-2 Bedford Town FC

With new signing Leon Lobjoit starting, the pressure was on for Leighton to win against Bedford, who are only a place above them in the league.

Leighton kicked off and immediately lost possession of the ball, but luckily Bedford couldn't keep it under control and the ball went out for a corner.

Lobjoit stepped up to take the corner but it was cleared easily by Russell Bull. A shot by Phil Draycott was cleared off the line in the 4th minute. 

Liversedge headed the ball against the bar in the 15th minute and only 3 minutes later was awarded a penalty after being taken down in the box by Ash Farmer. 

Stepping up to the spot Liversedge sent Dan Green the wrong way, hit the ball low and hard into the corner of the net, putting Bedford into a 1-0 lead. 

Leighton had a chance at goal from a free kick in the 20th minute. Draycott fired the ball straight at Garry Malone who fumbled and dropped it, unfortunately there was no one to put the ball across the line. 

Danny Watson was booked in the 37th minute after committing several fouls and back chatting the referee. 

Green made a great save with his feet just as the second half kicked off denying Liversedge of a goal. 

The 56th minute saw Leighton make their only substitution of the game brining off Warren Garcia for Claude Senla.

Robert Parker fired the ball into the back of the net in the 58th minute, but thankfully for Leighton the referee blew for offside leaving the score at 1-0 to Bedford. 

The 60th minute saw Leighton equalise with an own goal by Stuart Smeathers, assisted by Watson. Mark Bunker was shown a yellow card in the 64th minute. 

Farmer came close to sending Leighton into the lead in the 73rd minute,when his shot was pushed over the bar by Malone and out for a corner. Senla was up next to face Malone but his shot was caught firmly. 

Lobjoit committed his first foul in the 78th minute and was instantly shown a yellow card. 

A mistake by Alvin Rajaram saw Liversedge fire home Bedford's second goal in the 87th minute. 

Bunker went down injured after a nasty tackle, however it was Dave Murphy who ended up being shown a yellow card rather than that of the tackler. 

There were altercations after the final whistle, Greg Ling was shown a red card and Watson was shown a second yellow resulting in a red.

Leighton Town wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, the next game is at home to Aylesbury on Saturday 27th December, kick off 3pm. 

Bedford Town FC

Team- Malone, Cooper, Hopewell, Smeathers, Woodward, Wilkinson, Lewis, Oulton, Liversedge, Bull, Parker

Subs- McGoldrick, Winters, Holmes, Ling

Leighton Town FC

Team- Green, Farmer, Ridgway, Garcia, Murphy, Rajaram, Lobjoit, Bunker, Lyon, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Irving, Halai, Senla 

Attendance- 146

By Hannah Sellman

Town bounce back in cup after major defeat

Bedford Town FC 2-2 Leighton Town FC
(2-4 on penalties) 

With Leighton losing their last 3 games and having met with Bedford in the league a few weeks ago, they went in looking for a win. Leighton were still without 6 of their players due to holidays and injuries, but 2 new signings, Sansom Alalade and Claude Seanla were there to fill in. 

Leighton kicked off the first half and it wasn't long before Robbie Goodman had to clear the ball from a cross by Tom Rawlings stopping what could have been any early chance at goal.

8 minutes in saw Phil Draycott take Leightons' first corner of the game, Tyrone Taylors' head found the ball and headed just wide of the post. 

Goodman went down with a twisted knee after a good tackle stopping Bedford from venturing further towards goal. 14 minutes in and Dan Burke won Bedford a free kick, Neil King stepped up to the ball and skied it high over the bar, a wasted chance.

Bedfords' first goal came in the 21st minute when Tom Rawlings, who was offside by about 5 yards, ran straight at Dan Green sped past him and found the back of the net. 

Leighton had the chance to equalise only 3 minutes later when a free kick by Draycott found Dave Murphy but he headed the ball straight into the keepers hands. 

Another free kick for Leighton and a scramble in the goal saw Draycotts' kick find Goodman who headed the ball straight at Shaun Markie, he pushed the ball against the post and Jamie Nicholls found the rebound, making it 1-1.

Leighton didn't give up and when the ball once again found Taylor, he headed the ball inches wide of the post. Bedford responded quickly to all of Leightons chances and had a low and powerful shot at goal, which was struck by Rob Parker, but Green had it covered. 

Michael Lyon worked well to win the ball in the 39th minute, only for Murphy to accidentally miss head it moments later. Tom Rawlings snatched the ball away and made a run towards Green, where he faced him one on one yet again, but this time could only find the side netting. 

Alalade played a lovely ball along the ground into the box in the 44th minute, but there was no one there to put it across the line. 

Leighton made a change at half time bringing off Alalade for Seanla. Bedford kicked off the second half and straight away a shot by Tom Rawlings was well blocked by Chris Crook. 

51 minutes in saw Aaron King break away from Leightons' back 4, Green came for the ball but Aaron King skirted round him and put Bedford into the lead. 

Ash Farmer was taken down and a free kick was awarded to Leighton, Draycott once again fired the ball into the box but it fell straight into the hands of Shaun Markie. 

With 63 minutes gone Leighton finally managed to make it 2-2 when a header from Taylor found Danny Watson and he booted the ball into the back of the net.

A good ball into Nicholls by Seanla saw him head the ball to Draycott, who in turn found Watson but he could only shoot the ball over the bar. Murphy went down injured in the 80th minute and received treatment before returning to the pitch. 

With the score still 2-2 in the 88th minute Craig Bicknell made the decision to bring off Taylor and Nicholls for Kyle Durcan and Aaron Morgan in preparation for the penalty shoot out. Goodman went down in the 90th + 3 minute with a head injury and 3 minutes later the referee blew up for full-time.

The players took a short break before play resumed for the penalty shoot out. 

Draycott took the first penalty for Leighton, his shot was low and powerful and found the right hand corner of the net.

Aaron King was first up for Bedford and although Green dived the right way, the ball went into the net, making it 1-1.

Next up was Morgan he kept his cool and found the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Neil Kings' penalty for Bedford didn't even reach Green as he hit the post putting Leighton 2-1 up. 

Durcan didn't disappoint when he stepped up to the spot and hammered the ball home in the top left hand corner.

Bedfords' 3rd penalty was taken by Rob Parker and the pressure was on to score, luckily for him he put the ball away.

Watson was next for Leighton and he too didn't crack under the strain and hit the ball low and hard beating the keeper to make it 4-2.

Tom Liversedge was the 4th penalty taker for Bedford, he stuck the ball with force and Green dived to his left saving the ball making Leighton the winners of the shoot out. 

Leightons' next game is away to Royston on Saturday 20th September, kick off 3pm.

Bedford Town FC

Team- Markie, Cooper, Hopewell, N.King, Woodward, McGoldrick, Macrae, Burke, Rawlings, A.King, Parker

Subs- Liversedge, Summerfield, Winters, Glasscoe

Leighton Town FC

Team- Green, Lyon, Murphy, Goodman, Crook, Taylor, Nicholls, Farmer, Alalade, Watson, Draycott

Subs- Morgan, Halai, Seanla, Durcan 

Attendance- 135 

By Hannah Sellman 

Leighton knock Bedford out of the park with first win of the season

Bedford Town 0-2 Leighton Town FC

With Bedford kicking off they dominated the first 15 minutes of the game with Dan Child making a save in the first minute with a shot from Robert Parker.

Only moments later Mark Bunker had to clear the ball off the line but ended up hitting Chris Crook in the face who then went down injured, but thankfully the ball hit the side netting.

A blatant offside run by Josh Winters didn’t stop him and he continued to take his shot at goal but thankfully Child had it covered, as neither the referee nor the linesman saw the mistake.

With 3 chances for Bedford in the first 5 minutes of the game it was finally time for Leighton to take control. A cross by Tyrone Taylor saw Alvin Rajaram hit the ball wide of the post in the 17th minute.

23 minutes had past and with Leighton winning a corner it bounced off the chest of David Murphy off the line, finding Christian Lesters’ feet who found the back of the net putting Leighton into the lead.

A crucial stop by Paul Lyon in the 35th minute saw Tom Liversedge denied a chance at goal for Bedford. With Bedfords’ crosses coming in thick and fast it took the strength and skill of Leightons back 4 to keep them from drawing level.

A 40th minute corner saw Sam Macraes’ kick cleared off the line by the confident head of Rajaram.

Crook was shown a yellow card in the 42nd minute and this gave Bedford a chance at goal from the awarded free kick. Neil King was the man kicking the ball, he sent it powerfully towards Child who mishandled the ball and it fell to Bedford once again for another shot but thankfully it flew over the bar.

With the second half underway Lyon glided past numerous players in the 53rd minute to find an unmarked Phil Draycott who only had the keeper to beat to get that all important second goal for Leighton. Draycott didn’t crack under the pressure and walked past the keeper with ease, putting Leighton 2-0 up.

Rajaram was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute after the player he was hassling fell to the ground too easily.
Tommy Glasscoe found a way through Leightons’ defence in the 57th minute, with Jamie Nicholls nipping at his heels to put him off, thankfully persistence paid off as the ball hit the side of the net.

Leightons’ first and second substitution came almost simultaneously and saw Lyon and Lester replaced with Gary Ridgeway and Aaron Morgan.

A stop in play saw an injured Glasscoe for Bedford go down so he could be treated, however he soon made a miraculous recovery and was back on his feet in no time taking a shot at goal.

Bedford made their 3rd and final substitution in the 71st hoping for a miracle, bringing on Russell Bull for Parker. A timely tackle by Rajaram in the 80th minute saw Tom Rawlings stopped in his tracks in the box on his way towards goal.

A last minute substitution for Leighton saw Nicholls replaced with Jerry Lyons. The last kick of the game saw Child force the ball down the pitch to Taylor who managed to squeeze himself between 2 of Bedfords’ defenders and get a head to the ball towards the goal, but Lee Crockett plucked the ball from the air and held it securely.

Bedford Town FC

Team- Crockett, Glasscoe, Hopewell, N. King, Woodward, Cooperr, Winters, Macrae, Liversedge, A. King, Parker

Subs- S. King, Bull, Cross, Grant, Rawlings

Leighton Town FC 



Team- Child, Bunker, Rajaram, Crook, Murphy, P.Lyon, Nicholls, Lester, Taylor, Watson, Draycott



Subs- Morgan, Prendergast, Lyons, Ridgeway, Kemonagna

Attendance- 232

By Hannah Sellman