TWO goals in the last five minutes of play handed Maidenhead United a thoroughly undeserved win over Bedford Town at York Road on Saturday.
The Eagles came into the game on the back of five straight defeats – in which they conceded 17 goals while scoring just one – and had also parted company with their manager earlier that week.
But there were no signs of such recent traumas during the game.
In a fairly even first half, it was United who started the brighter, with Matt Glynn opening up Bedford’s defence in just the third minute of play. Unfortunately, his low cross struck the foot of a retreating defender, sending the ball behind for a corner.
Mark Nicholls then stepped up to deliver the ball back into the box, where Steve Croxford made good contact, only to see his goalbound shot ricochet away.
However, it was Bedford who produced the best of the early chances, when an untimely slip by Chris Elsegood gave Kevin Slinn and Mark Paul a free run on goal.
Running wide, Slinn drew the keeper before squaring to Paul in front of goal, but the late arrival of Andy Morley was enough to put the striker off and he skewed his shot well wide of the unguarded post. It was an unbelievable miss and one the visitors were soon regretting, when Lawrence Yaku pounced on a defensive error at the other end, nodding the bouncing ball over the keeper on 21 minutes.
United were in front, but the balance of the game was about to change, when Glynn was withdrawn to the bench, nursing a thigh strain.
Within minutes, Bedford found the target, only for their goal to be ruled-out for a push on Elsegood in the six-yard box.
However, the visitors were in the ascendancy, a pattern which continued to develop after the break.
Once again, United started the half brightly, with Nicholls drawing a routine save from a free-kick, before Rickey Ibe wasted a one-on-one by miscueing his final shot.
But, as the half progressed, it was the Magpies who came under the cosh, as wave after wave of Bedford attacks crashed on United’s increasingly wobbly defence.
The visitors’ persistence finally paid off on 71 minutes, when Slinn latched onto a deep cross from the left, before smashing it across the face of goal and inside the far post. Then, just five minutes later, Bedford took a deserved lead, when a deep corner found Lee Broughton unmarked at the far post, where he buried his header from six-yards out.
United had no reply to the continuing onslaught and had the woodwork to thank for keeping the score respectable.
However, with two minutes of normal time remaining – and against the run of play – Yaku advanced into the Bedford box, controlled the ball with his chest, turned and lashed it goalwards.
Steve Wilson, the Bedford keeper, did well to get his body in the way, but could not prevent the ball from squirming its way over the line. Great escape achieved, United then poured salt onto Bedford’s wounds with an injury-time winner.
Once again, Yaku was at the heart of the action, as he brought the ball under control before squaring it to the waiting Nicholls, who rifled a sweet volley through the keeper and into the back of the net.
York Road exploded as United’s fans began celebrating a highly unlikely victory, while the away supporters began trudging towards the exit with the look of the recently mugged.

Maidenhead: Barnard, Rose, Morley, Kelly, Croxford, Elsegood , Ashe, Nicholls, Yaku, Glynn, Ulasi. Subs: Ibe (for Glynn, 29), Saunders, Keywood (for Ulasi, 80), Connor (for Elsegood, 56), Goss.
Bedford Town: Wilson, Harvey, Lawley, Covington, G Williams, Broughton, Miller, Sozzo, Slinn, Paul, Edge. Subs: Jackman, C Williams (for Edge, 59), Folds.