Oxford City were beaten 2-1 by Bedford Town this afternoon at the MGroup Stadium.

Having fallen behind to an early  Callum Tripp goal, skipper Josh Ashby pulled his side level after 34 minutes  only to see Josh Phillips fire the away side to three points with a late second half strike.

The last thing City needed was to concede an early goal, but when your luck's out things go against you and inside five minutes a cruel bounce and a simple finish from Tripp saw them 1-0 down.

To their credit City responded immediately and refused to panic. Ashby started to dictate the midfield and Tom Scott’s screamer was pushed away by visiting keeper Luke Mewitt as Bedford sat in and looked to hit on the counter.

After 34 minutes the pressure paid off when the ever-energetic Scott surged on to a Jacob Roddy pass and crossed for Ashby to bury his second goal in two games to clip The Eagles’ wings and deservedly get his side back to 1-1.

There was a major talking point soon after when Bedford almost paid the price for Mewitt holding the ball for over eight seconds: quick-thinking City taking a quick corner but Ewan Clark firing over while most people in the ground questioned their knowledge of the rules. Mewitt should’ve threw it, didn’t do it but City blew it.

The purple-shirted away side then almost slid in an own goal in the last few seconds of the first half, leaving City feeling slightly aggrieved not to be ahead at the break.

They then had the chances to get their noses in front in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. A superb move after six minutes saw Ashby present Parker with another shooting opportunity that Mewitt did well to push over the bar and the keeper bettered that soon after by reacting superbly to push a Charlie Wiggett header to safety from close range.

Those saves were crucial because Bedford  then began to force the pace.

Leon Lobjoit forced Sam Lewis into a fine save after 66 minutes as the driving rain began to ease and the game finally began to flow but with 15 minutes left Phillips cut in from the right and tried his luck through  a sea of legs. The unsighted Lewis had no chance with his low  left-footed shot and City had it all to do once more.

They threw all they had at it, they always do, but Bedford managed to hold them at arm's length and once again The Hoops were beaten by just one goal.

 CITY

Lewis, Burroughs, Wiggett, Francis, Maragh (Bearne 74), Roddy (Westendorf  79), Ashby, Humphrey-Ewers, Scott (Potter 79), Clark, Parker

SUBS
Treml, Johnson, Daniel, McConnell

Att:  523

Report by Chris Williams, pictures Alex Whyte