Worksop Town beat Bedford Town to secure important three points
Worksop Town bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to Hereford with a 2-0 victory over Bedford Town on Tuesday night.
A brace from Aleks Starcenko sealed three important points to leave the Tigers nine points above the relegation zone.
“I’m delighted with the result, and I’m delighted, more than anything, with the performance," said boss Craig Parry.
“I think if you look back at the last three games, performance wise we have been magnificent, with two clean sheets and scoring goals.
“So I’m really pleased with the performance, pleased with the defending, and pleased with the clean sheet, so it’s a good night all round.”
Worksop started the evening brightly and nearly opened the scoring early on when Mason O’Malley found space on the edge of the box. The ball dropped kindly for the left-back, but his effort sailed over the crossbar.
The Tigers did not have to wait long to take the lead. Six minutes later, Lewis Whitham played a clever pass into the channel for Vaughan Redford, who shifted the ball across goal for Aleks Starcenko. The midfielder made no mistake, finishing first time to give Worksop the advantage.
Worksop continued to press and almost doubled their lead soon after. Whitham showed quick footwork to work his way into the penalty area before firing a shot that was comfortably gathered by Nathan Ashmore. From the resulting corner, Whitham delivered a dangerous ball across the face of goal that nearly found Josh Wilde, but the defender was unable to make the vital connection.
Bedford’s best opportunity of the first half came when a low cross reached Ellis Brown. The forward turned sharply and struck a powerful shot that crashed against the post before the Worksop defence scrambled the ball clear.
After the break, Worksop remained the stronger side. Whitham cut inside and unleashed a shot that landed on the roof of the net before later testing Ashmore again with another effort from a similar position.
Another chance came when Deegan Atherton’s long throw was only partially cleared to Redford, whose deflected strike flew narrowly over the bar.
Bedford threatened through George Moncur, whose shot from inside the box was deflected behind by Luke Waterfall. Tyrone Marsh also had a chance on the counter, but his effort drifted wide.
Worksop eventually sealed the win in the 71st minute. Liam Waldock’s header released Whitham, who squared the ball for Starcenko to fire into the top-right corner, securing all three points.