Real Bedford goalkeeper, Craig King as well as attacker Jordan Ponticelli were both sent off as Real Bedford lost their Southern League Premier Central unbeaten record with a 3-1 defeat at Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday (24 October).

Ben Stevens was the Bedford goalscorer, but a brace for Stortford’s Frank Norris and a second half clincher for Tyrone Baker condemned the Pirates to their first league defeat in 13 games this season.

The only silver lining from an otherwise disappointing afternoon is that Real are still top, courtesy of Bury Town’s 5-1 thrashing at Hitchin Town in one of just four league games, with the majority of the division in FA Trophy action.

Both Bury and Bedford had played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in midweek, but when Craig King was sent off after just 15 minutes at the newly named, Grundon Community Stadium in Hertfordshire on Saturday, their challenge went up a notch.

From goals to goalkeeping

King has perhaps been fortunate to avoid red cards in an earlier home game against Leighton Town and in the FA Cup, but it wasn’t third time lucky this time, as he was sent off after just 15 minutes.

He rushed out to meet Tyrone Baker, but the Stortford player got their first, leaving King to foul him outside the area, with the referee flashing a red card.

Without a substitute keeper on the bench, striker Tom Hitchcock replaced goals for goalkeeping, stepping up to take the gloves, but he was unable to stop the home side from taking the lead after half an hour.

It was Hitchcock’s slip that opened the door, allowing Baker to square the ball to Norris who tapped home into an empty net.

In the third minute of injury time, proceedings went from bad to worse, as Norris picked up an easy second.

Again, Baker was front and centre as his cross cannoned back off the crossbar, but Norris was on hand to tap in a simple second, taking his side into a two-goal lead at the break.

While Ben Stevens gained a goal back seven minutes into the second half, glancing in a cross from Benji Mensah from the right wing, Baker was on hand to restore Bishop Stortford’s two goal advantage after 76 minutes from the penalty spot.

Jordan Ponticelli’s own dire ending began as he brought down Alfie Wellens to give away the penalty, and within five minutes he was the second man heading down the tunnel as a second yellow card resulted in a second red card for Real.

And the two-goal home advantage with a two man disadvantage was too big an obstacle to overcome for Real Bedford, with the 3-1 victory taking Stortford up to 15th in the division.

Real Bedford will have an immediate opportunity to get back to the winner’s enclosure as they welcome 12th placed, Stourbridge to the Ledger Stadium on Tuesday (27 October).