Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 11th July 2026
Real Bedford 4-4 Harborough Town
Report – Ben Monti
Photo – Rob O’Brien
Harborough Town and Real Bedford couldn’t be separated in an enthralling pre-season match, with Riley O’Sullivan and Connor Tee bagging braces in an eight-goal thriller at Ledger Stadium.
A familiar foe, The Pirates, led by Rob Sinclair, had an excellent season just gone, proving to be the third-best team in the Southern League Premier Central behind only the Bees and Spalding United, the latter of whom pipped them to promotion in the play-off final.
Pre-season games are a chance for managers to experiment, bed in new players and get vital minutes into players’ legs; however, you wouldn’t have known that as both sides pushed relentlessly for goals. With starting positions up for grabs ahead of the new campaign, every player had a chance to show their gaffer why they should be in the discussion.
Harborough looked sharp right from the off, with Trialist making a couple of driving runs down the left flank, the latter of which saw the winger thread a ball through to O’Sullivan, who looked to evade his marker, only to be brought down for a penalty. Last season’s top scorer stepped up, emphatically lashing the ball past keeper Craig King to put the Bees 1-0 up within 5 minutes.
Minutes later, O’Sullivan picked up the ball on the edge of the box with his back to goal, spun onto his left in trademark fashion, and curled just shy of the far post. The chance came from superb combination play from Devon Kelly-Evans and Terell Pennant down the right flank, with the Bees looking to use the wings to exploit The Pirates’ defence.
Real Bedford soon settled into the game, with a couple of great runs from Josh Setchell causing problems for Eliot Putman. The winger floated a perfectly weighted ball to the edge of the area, where centre-back Drew Richardson, of all people, was on hand with an outrageous volley that looked destined for the top corner; however, deputy keeper Jake Laban managed to parry it away, denying the defender perhaps his best-ever goal.
The visitors doubled their lead on 18 minutes thanks to a neat one-two between Trialist, who impressed on the day, and O’Sullivan, culminating in a Henry-esque finish from Pennant on the turn. The lead lasted just four minutes as Ben Stevens picked up the ball in the pocket and played a solid through ball to the back post, before Connor Tee, exhibiting a forward’s instinct, intercepted the pass, made space for himself on his left foot and slid the ball past Laban to halve the deficit. The goal prompted the ever-too-familiar, seemingly new addition to football: the dreaded hydration break. In defence of the break between the first and second quarters, this one appeared genuinely for player welfare reasons in the blistering heat, rather than an opportunistic grab for additional TV ad revenue.
The Pirates pulled the game level with a spot kick of their own when Stevens confidently converted. It looked to be a soft foul, with the referee deeming Silvio Bello’s challenge on Jack Morrell sufficient grounds to award the penalty. Rory McAuley almost restored the Bees’ lead twice with acrobatics, late on in the first half, whilst the powerful Trialist continued to make a nuisance of himself down that left-hand side.
The Bees started the second half much as they did the first, taking the lead within five minutes of the restart. Connor Kennedy floated a ball into the danger zone for both centre-halves, McAuley and Alex Morris, to leap highest; the former edged his teammate to the ball, guiding it in off the post with a glancing header.
At the hour mark, the Harborough bench made a whole host of substitutions to freshen up the proceedings, as tired legs were evident, which is to be expected this early in pre-season. Moments after coming on, Rob Morgan looked set to double the Bees’ lead for the second time when the ball kindly fell to the midfielder, who rounded King and, with an open goal at his mercy, cannoned his effort off the upright. The miss was received far more humorously than it would have been with vital points on the line. Seconds later, the missed chance mattered little as O’Sullivan did O’Sullivan things, flicking the ball over his own head and lashing a volley over King’s head. A stunning piece of individual brilliance.
With fatigue setting in and multiple personnel changes, the game looked set to end in a Bees victory. Real Bedford had other thoughts, with Tee grabbing his second of the afternoon with an excellent finish. Under-21 goalkeeper Fisher was introduced for the closing minutes. The youngster immediately made an impression with a strong save with his feet, initiating chants of “Fisher” from the away support. The Bees couldn’t quite hold on to the win as The Pirates levelled the score in the dying seconds. A fair result and an enthralling game, from which both sides will take many positives and have identified areas to work on before the season begins.
Harborough Town return to the Beehive for the first time since lifting the Southern League Premier Central trophy to face Coventry United on Tuesday evening in another exciting pre-season game.