After Monday nights excellent performance in winning the Floodlit Cup this final home game of the season against the divisional runners-up Bromsgrove Sporting who travel with a large crowd for Midland Football Combination standards was always going to be a difficult game. Wilson was the first to test Tom McNulty in the Swifts nets, but he dived down to his left to parry the ball away for a corner. The Sporting goal machine that is Mark Bellingham was denied when McNulty was quickest to react from the resultant flag kick, collecting the ball off Bellingham's feet. At the other end Swifts own 38 goal scoring machine released a snapshot that just cleared the Sporting bar after a good run and cross from Cowley.
Just 12 minutes into the match Swifts opened their account when Adam Goodby lofted a ball over the square looking Sporting defence where CHRIS COWLEY had timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap. He steadied himself and finished with his left foot giving Bedford no chance in the Sporting nets. A long ball out of defence was latched on to by Wilson but he shot wide after 15 minutes. Swifts should then have doubled their lead. Sturridge-Packer like Cowley before him beat the offside trap but his right foot effort to lob the ball over the advancing 'keeper Bedford went well wide of the target. Unfortunately Cowley had to leave the field with an arm injury and Simeon Smith himself injured the previous Saturday and not fully fit replaced him. Just 20 minutes into the game and Smith should have scored for Swifts. Yonwin who had now been moved to the left wing to replace Cowley sped up the left pulled the ball back to Smith but he somehow contrived to steer his shot from close range the wrong side of the post. These two misses indie 5 minutes of each other would prove to be costly for Swifts.
With 5 minutes of the half left, a cross from the right was well met by defender Lewis CLARKE and he slotted home from within a crowded Swifts penalty area for the equaliser. In injury time of the first half, POYNER was set up by Bellingham after he had won a ball from a free kick conceded just outside the Swifts area. The Sporting striker scored with barely enough time to restart the match.
The second half was a non event for Swifts who seemed to be carrying too many injuries and lacked the fitness of their Bromsgrove opponents. The third goal came when a corner from the right was met by POYNER once more and he slotted home again from close range. The visitors had the ball in the net again after it had hit the cross bar, but the assistant flagged off side and Swifts who rarely troubled Bedford in the second half had to settle for second best and a 4th placed finish between Nuneaton Griff who finished 3rd and Atherstone who also lost on the day and ended up 5th. Nevertheless, Dave Haywood and his Management Team can look back on good season with a Trophy in the cabinet the first in 12 years at this level and a good 4th placed finish. |