Match Report:
Long Eaton United missed the chance to go inside of the play-off spots on Saturday as The Blues were defeated 2-0 on the road to Bedworth United.
First-half headers by Elliot Parrot and Harry Craven were enough for Bedworth to claim all three points.
Brad Munn’s side will be looking to get back to winning ways on Tuesday evening as they travel to face fourth place Anstey Nomads in what is set to be a cracker.
There was one change to the starting XI that was victorious against AFC Rushden & Diamonds last Saturday as Jamie Hanson came in for the suspended Gianluca Bucci.
New signing, Kyle Burke, began on then bench.
It was a first half at The Oval that was dominated by the home side.
Eventual goal-scorer, Elliot Parrot, came close to finding the top left corner with a header in the 20th minute of play.
Lewis King stepped up for his team to keep the score level just minutes after as Jac Redhead slipped a ball through to Samson Hewett inside of the box. Hewett’s effort was saved low down by captain King.
However, The Blues struggled to deal with the relentless pressure from the hosts.
Just a minute later in the 24th, Bedworth United took the lead.
Parrot found the top right corner with a header as he managed to get on the end of a Redhead cross from the right side of the box.
The Greenbacks doubled their advantage in the 38th minute and it was another headed finish, this time it was centre-back Harry Craven with the goal.
After Long Eaton cleared an initial corner, the ball was delivered back into the box and Craven was the most alert to get himself onto the end of a loose ball that landed between King and Jamie Hanson. Craven found the bottom left corner with his head.
With five minutes left of the first-half, Bedworth came very close to a third.
Brian Kohyrelon slipped through Redhead on goal and the attacker chipped the ball over King with his left foot but the ball just did not come down in time for it to land in the back of the net. The crossbar was struck.
Tristan Thompson-Matthews has the best chance of the half for Long Eaton and it came in added time.
His shot from just inside of the box went narrowly wide of the top right corner.
The Blues were 2-0 down at half-time.
Long Eaton settled slightly better in the second half, holding more of the ball than they did in the first.
Dexter Walters’ shot from the edge of the box in the 61st minute caused some trouble for Will Highland in the net of Bedworth.
Walters’ effort took a mean deflection off a Bedworth body in the box and forced Highland into a smart save as he tipped the ball over the crossbar with the ball looking like it was going to loop over the Bedworth keeper.
A tactical tweak in the 68th minute was made by Munn as Jahvan Davidson-Miller was replaced by Coden Duncan which saw Walters switch out to the left with James Taylor adopting a new role as right winger.
However the rhythm of the match failed to change.
Kyle Burke was introduced in the 79th minute to make his first appearance for the club but the result remained stagnant.
It is a big game for The Blues on Tuesday night as they face Anstey Nomads away from home who are a play-off rival.
Your away support will be pivotal for the team.
Let’s keep pushing Blues.