Bedford Town bounced back from FA Cup disappointment in fine style on Saturday (24 October), beating Scarborough Athletic 2-1 away from home to rise to ninth in National League North.

A low free kick from Joe Payne and a late penalty from George Moncur was enough for the Eagles to restore winning ways, and Harry Smart’s side now sit just a single point outside the play-off places.

Not that the Bedford Town manager will be letting his team get ahead of themselves, as they have endured a tough October full of travelling and cup replays.

Their latest FA Cup replay ended in penalty heartbreak on Tuesday night, losing 4-3 in a shootout against Cray Wanderers, who go on to host Stockport County in the first round in a game to be broadcast live on the BBC.

For Bedford Town and their loyal fanbase, they were left to wonder what could have been, but they admirably put all of that behind them to defeat last season’s play-off semi-finalists, Scarborough on Saturday.

Payne precision

After trading early corners, Bedford Town were ahead after just 14 minutes.

Awarded a free kick on the corner of the penalty area, Moncur stepped over the ball to allow Joe Payne to curl a pinpoint low effort into the far bottom corner to give the Eagles an early lead.

The concession spurred Scarborough into action, and they spurned a number of chances before they equalised just before the 30-minute mark.

Rio Allan was one of those who was unable to capitalise on an opening, but the hosts only needed to wait a few more minutes to regain parity, as Will Thornton rose highest from a corner to head home the equaliser.

A pair of yellow cards for Thornton and opposite number, Alfie Thornett were the only other notable moments in an even first half that resulted in a goal apiece.

Goalmouth action was otherwise a rarity until the hour mark, when Tarik Gidaree was denied by an excellent save from home goalkeeper, Ryan Whitley before going on to stop another Moncur half chance.

Mo Fadera got closest for Scarborough, only for Laurie Walker to tip his effort over the bar, before the game-changing incident happened in the 70th minute.

Scarborough goal scorer, Thornton went from hero to zero as he brought down Lewis Franklin in the area, and it was left to Moncur to power home the penalty into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

And it would end up being the winner, despite a nerve-shredding five minutes of injury time, yet Bedford Town defended admirably to keep their goal advantage to take three points back to The Eyrie.

They’ll get an immediate chance to add to their points tally on Tuesday (27 October), as they host Hednesford at The Eyrie; a side who got promoted to this division last season but have started well to sit in sixth.

Bedford Town will also find out who they play in the second round of the FA Trophy on Monday, where the 48 step two sides join the winners of 32 ties from the first round played this weekend.

The details of the draw will be released at approximately 1pm on Monday, 26 October.