Bishop’s Stortford Men’s 2s got their campaign in Div2SW off to a strong start with a win on the road at Bedford.
It was a mature display in the heat from the 12 travelling players, protecting possession and passing the ball confidently, particularly fromt centre back pairing of Harry Bannister and Mark Taylor. Further up the field, the forwards applied relentless pressure to create opportunities to win the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch. Tom Nash scored the first goal of the new season, when a smart passing move down the reached him close to the baseline. Even from a seemingly impossible tight angle, Nash hit the ball with ferocious power into the roof of the net leaving the keeper no chance to react.
The half-time break gave a chance to cool off, but Stortford came out with even more desire to press on. The second goal came on the break, as player-of-the-match and new recruit, Harry Olorenshaw, broke free and sent the ball wide to Tom Nash, who delivered a perfectly weighted ball across the top of the D. The impressive Ossie Bannister, demonstrating his natural goalscoring capabilities on his Div2SW debut, bravely slid across to beat the keeper to the ball and deflected it home.
Bedford took a surge of energy and spend a lot of the fourth quarter finding counter-attacks towards the Stortford D. They struggled to find any room past Elliot Copping-Jones and Alex Kirton, but eventually managed to pull a goal back. The last few minutes created a surge of tension, as Bedford continued to pile on the pressure and the final whistle came as a relief to the visitors.
