4th February - AFC Dunstable 2 Bedford Town 2

In a typical derby, the shares were spoiled but the game very nearly did not come to an end, as major concerns over Bedford's skipper Tommy Hull were raised, when he became ill on the pitch with 15 minutes remaining.

Coming up against one of the form teams in the league, The Eagles came to Creasey Park having tasted defeat only once in their last 10 league outings. In that run, AFC did register a 3-1 win in the Bedfordshire Senior Cup over their opponents but on this occasion the visitors were a different animal.

With play off places still up for grabs, the hosts knew a win for Bedford would cut the gap between the two teams to 5 points with a game in hand.

Both teams were on the front foot from the kick off. Lee Roache created a great chance for himself, to give Bedford the lead with only 4 minutes gone. He weaved into the AFC box but put his effort wide.

Three minutes later, AFC nearly opened the scoring. Good work by BJ Christie out wide set up Jermaine Hall. He could just not get over the ball as it cleared the bar.

With neither team giving an inch, it was the OD's that opened the scoring with 23 minutes on the clock. Nathan Frater latched onto a Garry Malone clearance. With the oncoming Enol Ordonez Suarez looking to clear the danger, Frater got there first to poke the ball home.

With the half time break looming, a rasping strike from Ryan Auger had AFC's Malone scrambling across his box but his strike just went wide.

Half time: AFC Dunstable 1 Bedford Town 0

The opening 20 minutes of the new half saw 3 goals. Firstly Bedford were back on parity, when an Auger shot took a deflection which wrong footed Malone. Within 5 minutes AFC regained the lead. From a Newman Carney corner, Leon Cashman was left unmarked as he headed home.

The scoring was not finished, when good work from Chris Marsh crossed for Roache to stoop low to head home.

It was now looking like the game was opening up and more goals were a certainty. This came to an end, when Tommy Hull fell to the ground with no one around him. Concerns were high when he reported he had trouble breathing. It was decided to call an ambulance. He was stretchered off the pitch, then a decision had to be made if the game continued after the 30 minute break. It was decided to continue and as expected the level of the previous 75 minutes of play was hard to match.

AFC's manager Steve Heath was complimentary for the two teams saying "I thought both sides put in a great shift today. We knew Bedford would come at us to close the gap in the league table. We coped well with their early pressure and in the end a draw was a fair result"

AFC Team: Malone. Bishop (Massay 55). N.Carney. Griffiths. Morgan. Olaleye. Hall (Mannion 85). Cashman. Christie (B.Carney 85). Humbert. Frater. Subs not used. Murphy. Byron

Scorers: Frater (23). Cashman (60)

Attendance 152