Smith at double as Town storm in

Buntingford Town 4 Bedmond Sports & Social 2 A STUNNING four-goal burst in the second half helped Town see off second-place Bedmond on Saturday to continue their recent good run of results. Having beaten league leaders Whitewebs the week before, another tough game looked on the cards for Town, who had lost at Bedmond earlier in the season in league and Herts Centenary Trophy games. Following both sides recent run of form, a tough game was expected but the first half did not really live up to expectations, with both teams unable to get a firm grip on the game. With a goalkeeping injury crisis, Town boss Paul Attfield signed teenage goalkeeper Kieran Fox before the game, and with captain Duncan Easley also missing through injury, the Town side had a familiar crop of youngsters making the bulk of the side. It took until 14 minutes for the first clear opening, and it fell to Town, when Carl Smith's fine run and cross found George Garner six yards out, but though his first-time shot beat keeper Jamie Hills, it only found the side netting. Disappointingly, this was to be the only real clear chance Town created in a drab first half, with their visitors showing more attacking intention, but also lacking a quality final ball to test Town's debutant keeper. With it difficult to see where either team was going to score, Bedmond did take the lead after 36 minutes when Town fell asleep on a quickly- taken free kick, and Glynn Spurr advanced into the box and squared for Richie Johnson to tap home. Town's management duo changed things around at the break, with the introduction of Tom Bellingham and youth player Luke Robins. A change of formation, together with a few harsh words, completely galvanised the home side. The changes turned out to be instrumental as within the first five minutes of the second half Town turned deficit into a lead. Three minutes in Robins charged into the box, his angled shot was only parried by Hills, and Tom Bellingham reacted quickest to tap home. Two minutes later another pacy Robins run saw him advance on goal before rounding the advancing Hills. The visiting keeper hauled Robins to the ground with the only surprise being he was shown a yellow card and not the expected red. Carl Smith converted the penalty, and the whole pace of the game took a turn for the better. Bedmond started showing why they were second in the league with some neat attacking play, but Town also were positive going forward, and the game developed into an exciting end-to-end affair. With Town's teenage back three of David Cain, Jamie Babbage and Barry Lynch coping well with the visitors' attacks, it was somewhat depressing that Bedmond should level with a deflected goal. After 60 minutes Dale Sears picked up a loose ball 25 yards out after a little hesitancy in the Town defence, and his shot looped into the net off Cain's shin. But after 76 minutes a superb 40-yard cross-field ball from Robins cleared the Bedmond defensive line, and George Garner outpaced the full back to crash a shot under the advancing Hills. The scoring was completed three minutes from time when Mark Smith's ball from midfield found Carl Smith, who outpaced the centre half and sent a deft lob over the stranded keeper from 25 yards for his seventh goal in four games. The result lifted Town up to eighth in the Herts County League, leaving Attfield delighted. We were all disappointed with a very poor and uncommitted first half where the biggest positive was only being 1-0 down," he said. "We sorted out a few things in the interval, changed personnel, changed formation, and second half we really exerted some good pressure and got the goals at the right time. "Again we defended well as a team and showed the collective determination that teams are struggling to cope with just lately." Town: K Fox, B Lynch, D Chaffey (T Bellingham), D Cain, J Babbage, M Smith, L Ridings, G Garner, G Christie (R Wilmott), C Smith, D Morbin (L Robins) - Town host seventh-placed Met Police Bushey on Saturday, kick off 2.45pm