There was nothing to split the two teams on matchday 12 as resilience and spirit amongst the Bedford back line kept the Boro at bay, as well as a Man-of-the-Match performance from goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore who made numerous outstanding saves to leave with a point.

Radcliffe had the ball in the back of the net within six minutes after some quick play from Matt Sargent down the right-hand side allowed space to open up for a cross. The welshman’s delivery picked out Jordan Hulme in the centre who managed to tap home, only for the linesman to cut the celebrations short by raising his flag for offside.

Rio Clegg almost got into double figures for the season with an audacious attempt from the tightest of angles on the right side of the box, his strike cannoned off the base of the post before rolling across the six-yard area and no blue shirt was perfectly positioned to dispatch from close range.

On 20 minutes, the Eagles had a big opportunity to break the deadlock when Josh Phillips drilled a dangerous pass into the six-yard area towards Leon Lobjoit who looked to profit, a number of richochets somehow kept the ball out of the net and Radcliffe relieved the pressure momentarily with a clearance seconds later.

The first half was on the verge of boiling over after some antics from Clegg and opposition captain Edward Gyamfi in the Bedford penalty area, with both players finding themselves on the deck before a quick break by the visitors led to Dan Gardner pulling his man down, and a late challenge on Danny Greenfield shortly after meant the game hit its climax as the two teams came to blows once more.

There was still a tension in the air after the restart with a lot more intensity than the first half on display. Clegg darted down the centre of the pitch with 57 minutes on the clock, creating space to blast goalwards and Ashmore stood in his way by saving with his legs, and Radcliffe couldn’t use the following corner to manufacture any further openings for the time being.

The Boro began to come forward with more vigorous energy in search of the opening goal as the minutes ticked on. Michael Afuye and Sargent linked up well to create space for the former to find Hulme but his header couldn’t be diverted on target, and Afuye was once again the architect of Radcliffe’s attack on the 63-minute mark, gliding beyond two purples shirts before drilling a low pass into the corridor of uncertainty, the inviting ball couldn’t meet any outstretched attackers in the area.

The home side decided to roll the dice by making a triple change with 15 minutes remaining, introducing David Ball, Anthony Dudley and George Glendon to the fray with a quarter of an hour to aid Radcliffe’s efforts to get their noses in front.

The Boro’s best chance of the second half went begging after Callum McFadzean dribbled into space and layed the ball off to Jon Taylor who fired a powerful shot on target, the visiting goalkeeper made an unbelievable, outstretched save to stop the ball from going in and keeping the scoreline favourable from a Bedford point of view.

With just moments to go and whilst Radcliffe remained on the charge for a winner in the dying embers, Bernard and Jonno’s side were reduced to ten men. Greenfield went to ground from a challenge inside the final third and the referee quickly dismissed Radcliffe’s claims for a set piece, instead brandishing the midfielder with second yellow card to give him his marching orders with two minutes remaining.

This break in play fizzled Radcliffe’s attacking momentum, allowing the match to end level with an agonising 0-0 scoreline when the referee’s full-time whistle sounded.

The Boro are back in action on Tuesday night at the Neuven Stadium where we play host to Darlington in what is set to be a captivating tie under the floodlights.

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