Rovers hammered by near neighbours Eagles

Barton Rovers produced an abject display as they were thumped by Bedford Town at Sharpenhoe Road on Saturday.

The early exchanges didn’t give an indication of the gulf in class between these two sides as, after just two minutes, Rovers’ Jimmy Hartley fine run saw him shoot over with just the keeper to beat.

Barton paid dearly for this miss when, six minutes in, Dan Walker’s left-footed thunderbolt to put Town ahead.

Bedford were looking good all over the pitch and Rovers, lacking cohesion and surprisingly fighting spirit, went further behind when former midfielder Ebby Nelson-Addy poked home on 23 minutes.

It appeared ominous for Rovers as the Eagles stroked the ball around at will and it was no surprise when, on 26 minutes, Gavin Hoyte made it 3-0 following a corner.

Town were not done and Nelson-Addy netted again when he bent a lovely free-kick round the Rovers wall leaving keeper Gary Malone stranded.

After the break, Town’s James Peters grabbed a fifth goal on 52 minutes, with Jermaine Osei’s close range header on 67 widening the gulf.

Dean Dummett made it seven when he prodded home, as Osei then rounded off the scoring with 13 minutes to go to complete the rout.

Rovers also went down to a 2-1 defeat at Didcot Town on Wednesday evening.

Brett Gardner (38) opened the scoring for the hosts before Charlie Clayton’s equaliser on the hour looked to have rescued a point.

However, George Reid popped up in stoppage time to win the game for Didcot, as Rovers are without a match this weekend.