Berkhamsted 1xi 0 Bedford Town 2xi 0 

The last game before the xmas break and it was important for
Berkhamsted to play well. The game started at a high tempo and
continued through out, both sides working hard defensively.

This
though didn’t allow many opportunities in the first half as both sides
decided not to commit players forward. There were a few goal mouth
incidents but with so many bodies in the way clear chances were not forthcoming.

The second half was more exciting as both sides began to tier. The
best chances fell to Berkhamsted in the first 15 minutes of the
restart and on at least three occasions Berkhamsted should have taken
the lead. Jason Silver had fine strike saved on the line, while Pete
Allam was denied after a perfect pass from Duncan Hodges found him on
the penalty spot, with only the goal keepers quick reactions stopping him.

Defensively Berkhamsted kept their structure and heavy work rate,
mainly with the help of the welcome return from injury, of Rocky
Savage to centre of the pitch. Graeme Hart was a late replacement goal
keeper, who normally plays out on the pitch! kept the opposition at
bay. The last 10 minutes of the game turned sour when both sides began
to question some of the umpiring decisions and this began to show in
some heavy tackles. However the opposition had the best of the last 5
minutes having 3 short corner decisions go their way. But fortunately
the back four fought hard to keep out the their shots, ably assisted
by a keeper that had only played in goal a few times before!

The team christmas drinks had therefore started well with a pretty
good result from one of the better sides in the league. Now if we can
only play like that against the weaker sides and take our chances
against the better teams then Berkhamsted could have an excellent second half of season!