Bedford returned from North London on Tuesday evening with the prize of a 4th qualifying round tie, after defeating stubborn Wingate & Finchley 3-1 in their Emirates FA Cup replay.
The celebrations at the end were made entirely justifiable when considering a quarter of a century had passed when the club had last made it to this stage.
Harry Smart made just one change to the starting line up from Saturday, as Louie Kudiabor came in for Reece Evans. T’Sharne Gallimore was back from international duty, and on the subs bench.
The Eagles started well, opening the scoring after only six minutes, when Lewis Franklin’s cross from the right afforded Josh Castiglione a chance to put in a reverse pass for Kudiabor, and with the Wingate defence wrong footed, the striker struck the ball home from an angle.
The early setback prompted Wingate to attack Bedford, winning a series of corners during the rest of the half. From one of these, Laurie Walker pulled off a stunning, instinctive save to deny Kai Thomas-Fraser from close range.
The Eagles’ defence was tested and to coin a nautical phrase, repelled all boarders, to keep the lead.
After frustrating the home side for most of the half, Bedford had two chances on the cusp of half time, resulting in one of them doubling the lead.
The first one was off target, as Kudiabor’s effort after a tight turn in the area, went past the post.
The second one, however, found the target as Junior Gyamfi found George Moncur near the edge of the area. One pass later, and a control, Moncur drilled the ball past Charlie Grainger, and into the bottom right.
Taking a two-goal lead into the break would have been ideal if it were not for the ‘curse’ of the added time goal, as Ashley Nzala powered into the area, shrugging off a challenge to fire past Walker in the first, and only minute over the 45.
The 2nd half nearly started as well as the 1st, as a good chance for Bedford came along when a pass from the right byline found David Hicks, but he couldn’t keep his shot low enough to do damage.
Nine minutes into the half, Bedford scored a third. A corner was defended, but not well enough, as the ball was played into the danger zone, and Kudiabor was there to poke home from close range.
Coming back to try and reduce the arrears, and on the hour, the home side had a decent shout for a penalty when Scott Kashket went down in the area. The referee waved play on, and Kashket received an Oscar nomination.
Play went from one end to the other. Walker saved Nzala’s header before substitute, Tariq Gidaree tried to take advantage of a free kick into the area, but he was leaning back too far, and skied his shot.
Wingate’s own substitute, David Oupoh then put a lovely cross into the Bedford area that begged for a final touch, but no one was there to capitalise.
With ten minutes remaining, and in a crowded area, a Bedford defender nearly put the ball into his own net when trying to clear, and Walker had to push it round the post for a corner.
For a few minutes, corners were won at each end with no real chances on goal, although a free kick played into the Bedford area prompted another shout for a penalty when Ben Frempah went down. Again, the referee waved play on, although it did have to be stopped while the defender received treatment.
As six minutes added time was indicated, a high ball onslaught was predicted, but never happened.
Bedford played out the game fairly comfortably to record the win, giving the side the right to a home tie in the 4th qualifying round against Cray Wanderers.