Bedworth United 1-1 The Mikes

A draw was a fair result in a game where the visitors had the edge in the first period, the hosts in the second. Johnny Johnston had finished his loan period with us, while O’Shane Stewart came in for Jack Byrne (suspended for three games after his red card the previous week). New backup keeper Tommy Jackson had a place on the Mikes’ bench, and erstwhile Boldmere custodian Dan Crane featured similarly for Bedworth, who fielded a younger, lighter team than we’ve seen recently.
Boldmere started like an express train, creating three half chances against a wobbly looking home back line plus a brilliant point blank save from new Bedworth keeper Liam O’Brien. It came as no surprise when, only six minutes in, Harry Sweeney fired home as chaos ruled in the Greenbacks’ goalmouth. Injured in one of the match’s many meaty challenges, Joe Hull limped off after a quarter of an hour to be replaced by ‘Taz’ Chibaya. The Mikes continued to go close to doubling their lead on several occasions; but Bedworth slowly began to put their game together, Christopher Cox and Elliott Parrott heading just wide, and over, as the break approached. Nevertheless, you’d say Boldmere just about deserved their half time lead.
The second half saw the tide turn. In what was often a scrappy encounter, the Greens scrapped better, often out jumping and outsmarting their guests, getting the ball to their men more often, more accurately. That the Mikes conceded five yellow cards to their opponents’ three tells its own tale. Some desperate stuff saw a third free kick conceded just outside the box, with sixty-six minutes gone. A superb Stephan Morley bender found the very corner of the framework, to make the scores level. With a quarter of an hour left, the Mikes’ bench made a double substitution, as they tried to regain the initiative. Ross Evans brought speed out of midfield, while Callum North (making his League debut) showed close skill and positional sense at times. Even so, the Mikes had to continue to give away free kicks as Bedworth, pushing further forward, looked for a winner. North and Evans had scrambled efforts on goal that went close to snatching the points for Boldmere as we went into added time but the best effort was a howitzer from Callum Gittings that fizzed just wide. After the bright opening when the Mikes could possibly have put the game to bed, they were on the back foot for much of the second half. A point apiece was fair reward on the overall balance of play from a wholehearted tussle. The only downside was the number of yellow cards issued by referee Richard Walker.

Bedworth United: Liam O’Brien; Ryan Moore; Luke Rowe; Elliott Parrott; Kyle Burke; Stephan Morley; Christopher Cox; Reece Blackmore; Liam Murphy; Ashley Sammons; Reinaldo Forbes (Charlie Donaldson, 70).
Subs. not used: Matthew Donaldson; Dan Makitadi; Harvey Westwood; Dan Crane.
Boldmere St Michaels: Charlie Emery; Ricardo Dudley; Harry Sweeney; Joe Hull (Tazivaishe Chibaya 15); Harry Craven; O’Shane Stewart; Callum Ballinger (Ross Evans 77); Owen Parry; Andre Brown (Callum North 77); Ben Usher-Shipway; Callum Gittings.
Subs. not used: Tommy Jackson; Lewis Allison.