The tide went out on the Eagles at Southport on Saturday afternoon, as the side suffered a 3-1 defeat at Southport.
Lee Bircham had to make a couple of changes, having to replace Sam Brown and Cole Kpekawa due to illness and injury, with Junior Gyamfi and Josh Tomlinson starting.
A bright start from the visitors was rewarded with a corner in only the second minute, but a glancing touch after the ball was played in, went off for a goal kick.
Southport were slow off the blocks, and looked nervous in the opening five minutes. The nervousness still showed, even after winning their first corner a couple of minutes later, as Sonny Hilton put in an awful cross. Although the hosts kept possession, Bedford defended.
The Sandgrounders should have taken the lead another couple of minutes later, when a free kick into the area took a couple of deflections before landing at the feet of Tom Moore, inside the six yard box. Dan Wilks came to the rescue by saving at point blank range.
Southport broke the deadlock on 16 minutes, when Tomlinson was adjudged to have an abnormal stance as the ball hit his hand following a Moore header, and Danny Lloyd stepped up to fire the ball home.
Bedford upped their game a bit more, and a scintillating run by Gyamfi along the edge of the area ended with a low shot and a stop from Chris Renshaw. Shaun Jeffers was then fed by Tyrone Marsh, and Renshaw saved again when the low effort came in.
Matching their hosts, the Eagles even had the better chances as the half wore on, and five minute before the break, a long free kick allowed Ryan Blake to get the better of Ben Collins, to push the ball into the area for Marsh, and a deft flick later, Renshaw was beaten, and the equaliser was scored.
Just before the 45 minutes, Marsh nearly beat Collins, but the defender recovered to marshall the ball to his ‘keeper.
A cheeky shot from just inside his own half from Marsh caught out Renshaw, in added time, but the ball was too wide to hit the target.
The 2nd half saw chances for both sides, as Momodou Touray flashed a shot just wide of Wilks’ post, and a Gyamfi shot flew over the bar.
Lewis Coyle’s cross had the sting taken out of it, but the ball ran kindly to Ellis Brown, who tried to curl the ball in from the left corner of the area, narrowly missing the target.
Marsh and Jeffers then played a loose 1-2, before the latter saw his shot saved.
Despite the chances Bedford had, the hosts took the lead with 20 minutes remaining, when Sonny Hilton’s free kick into the danger area was bundled home by Moore.
Taking the lead gave Southport more confidence, and Wilks saved a tight shot from Hilton at his right hand post. A wayward, square pass by the Bedford defence then fell to Teddy Lavelle, but his shot was too wild to stay on the pitch.
Collins then denied Marsh again, as the Bedford striker was winding up for an effort on goal.
Two minutes into time added on, Hilton raced along the left byline avoiding tackles, before lashing a shot across goal and into the net. This bitter blow was enough to get the Sandgrounders over the finishing line, and flattered the home side.

A solid second half performance see Southport claim all three points at Haig Ave.

Goals by Moore and Hilton secured the game for the sandgrounders after first half goals by Lloyd and Marsh saw the gane level at half time.

An early chance fell to the feet of Captain Tom Moore following an set piece, but the defenders effort from close range was saved well by Daniel Wilks.

As the clock passed the opening quarter of an hour Southport’s early momentum payed off, Moore’s header from a set-piece caught the hand of a Bedford defender and Michael Crusham pointed to the spot.

Danny Lloyd stepped up and calmly fired home from 12 yards, sending Wilks the wrong way in the process, firing into the left corner.

Despite the home sides pressure the lead didn’t last for too long, Tyrone Marsh finding an equaliser in the 40th minute after being played through on goal by Ryan Blake.

Southport’s set piece threat continued throughout the second half with Moore again coming close before the hour mark.

Alas Port regained the lead with 20 minutes to go, Sonny Hilton’s free-kick perfectly meeting Moore in the penalty area who made no mistake in firing into the back of the net.

Hilton added a third in stoppage time with an excellent run, skipping past 4 players down the byline before firing from a tight angle into the roof of the net.