IES pay the price for poor second-half

Bedford 4 IES 1

IES failed to complete the second part of their weekend mission when an inept second half performance saw them hand victory to a lowly Bedford side who wanted to win more than their opponents.

While IES live to fight another day when they face Clacton in their final game on Saturday, this was Bedford's last game and initially it was the visitors who held the upper hand.

They found space down the flanks with Guy Marshlain in fine form and they sent a warning to Bedford when his fierce cross was just out of David Taylor's reach.

Five minutes later, in an almost identical move, the pass was perfect and Taylor had an easy finish. IES carved out three good openings to add to their lead, but were unable to find the finishing touch and were made to pay dearly.

Bedford threw everything forward and came close with a deflected shot that hit the bar before equalising from a another deflection, this time from a short corner.

Having started on the back foot Bedford had finished the first half on top and continued that into the second half.

They hassled and harried IES into mistakes which the visitors made all too easily, while their passing was of a poor quality on a slow pitch.

The home side scored a bizarre second when a loose ball was pounced on by three players and somehow rolled into the goal via a ricochet and they went further ahead from a short corner.

Bedford's fourth came courtesy of a deflection from a long corner that appeared to be lifted into the circle and IES's last chance disappeared when Taylor saw his penalty flick hit the bar.