Hitchin Town Football Club

Bedford Town 5 Hitchin Town 0

Tuesday, January 20 2009

A second half collapse sent Hitchin to their worst ever defeat at the hands of Bedford Town and started alarms bells ringing at Top Field.

Such was the manner of the Canaries’ defeat that many of their fans streamed out of the exit after the fifth goal went in on 78 minutes. For the second time in a matter of days, manager Darran Hay was left distraught after another sub-optimal performance.

But for much of the first half, it was an even contest and it was not until the 45^th minute that Bedford opened the scoring, Tony Battersby turning and shooting home from the edge of the area.

Hitchin didn’t have time to stage a recovery, for a mix-up in defence between Ollie Thorne and Marcus Rose let in Battersby and he crossed for former Canaries midfielder Aaran Cavill to score.

Battersby added a third after 57 minutes from the penalty spot after Jamie Gould was brought down by Hitchin goalkeeper Phil Carpenter.

In the 71^st minute, another defensive lapse permitted Andrew Phillips the chance to score Bedford’s fourth from close range.

And seven minutes later, a free kick was fumbled by Carpenter and Stuart Wall scored from the rebound.

"Tonight we let ourselves down," said Hay. "We made critical mistakes in critical areas. If we are to get out of trouble, we cannot afford to put in performances like this. We have a lot of hard work to do in the coming days and weeks."

Bedford Town (1)5 Hitchin Town (0)0

Bedford: Armitt, Clark, Oujdi, Miller, Barby, Wall, Daniel, Cavill (Jackman 79), Battersby (Woolf 69), Draycott (Phillips 63), Gould

Scorers: Battersby 45, 57-pen, Cavill 50, Phillips 71, Wall 78

Hitchin: Carpenter, Pepper, Ellams, Williams, Rose, Thorne, Lewis, Stupple (Cox 72), E’Beyer, Balderson (Bull 67), Tocco (Mason 51)

Attendance: 358

Referee: N.Hair

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