This did not appear to be the time to meet one of the stronger sides in the division. Injuries and a suspension had Paul Halsey juggling with his squad to put out a side. In the event the worries about central defence were overstated, not least by yours truly in the match preview, and Josh Okotcha made his return to the side after injury whilst youth product Kai Somers was recalled from his loan at Baldock Town.

Still, Mitch Hahn and Joe Dearman were rested on the bench with Jon Clements wearing the captain’s band whilst Freddy Moncur made his second start of the week and Gabriel Chapps just his second league appearance. Ben Siggers and Mackye Townsend-West remain sidelined for some little time.

So much for Ware but what about their opponents? Non-league has been sprinkled with new chairmen coming into clubs boasting about how quickly they will now rise to the Football League. They and their claims never last long it seems.

Real Bedford’s man is aiming higher and talks about the Premier League. It might sound preposterous but there is a palpable sense at the club that this man is in it for the long term. Peter McCormack has made his money through Bitcoin which for some of us is just too confusing to understand. Even so, some of the trappings of success - club merchandise and a good matchday feel - are already in place albeit in a small way at the moment.

If that’s the vibe from off the field, the on-field experience isn’t a lot different. The Pirates started confidently and had a good first half. They moved the ball around well and exploited the speed of Joshua Setchell on the right wing to give Isaac Evans a tough game. At one point the Ware left back had a talking to from referee Kavanagh for a tackle on Setchell. “There’ll be a yellow card if it happens again” seemed to be the implication. The home side were also quick to close Ware down and that led the visitors into mistakes that were not, luckily, costly.

In fact, it was Ware who took the lead. In a half in which they were often reliant on breaks, Clements had already had one shot just wide of Tyler McGregor’s goal when on 14 minutes Sam Mayuma played him in for another chance. The number nine took the ball past McGregor before shooting for his eighth league goal this season.

It was not received well by the home bench who felt Clements was offside and it was certainly a close call but after their luck in the last two league games Ware weren’t complaining. What made it worse for the Pirates was that Setchell had had a goal disallowed for offside just a minute before.

Bedford carried on regardless and Fred Burbidge was called upon to make a great, last ditch tackle outside his area to deny the home side an equaliser. One came soon enough however after one of several corners for the home side was only partly cleared and the return found Shaheim Ward who turned the ball past Burbidge.

If this was a sign that Bedford would now take control it didn’t quite happen. They continued to have plenty of the ball but Ware were resolute in defence and might even have regained the lead in added time at the end of the half. Stef Georgiou’s cross went tantalisingly across the face of the home goal with no Ware player able to get the simple touch that was needed.

The game settled into a more even and end-to-end contest in the second half with Somers growing into the game enough to suggest that his return from loan could be more than a temporary arrangement. At the same time the threat from Setchell seemed to have abated.

In added time Joe Dearman took the ball into the home penalty area but when his progression was ended there were cries from the Ware bench for a penalty. He seemed to have been pulled back and then down but the referee wasn’t interested. Now it was the turn of Ware’s bench to have their appeals go unheeded by Mr Kavanagh.

Paul Halsey was still exercised by the issue after the game but was pleased with his team’s performance, “one of the best this season” which kept them unbeaten away from home. Halsey thought that “Everyone stepped up” to the challenge but singled out Okotcha and Somers who were “outstanding” in limiting Bedford’s chances and was pleased that Freddy Moncur had responded well to getting his first league start since the opening game of the season.

Ware: Fred Burbidge, Stef Georgiou, Isaac Evans (Joe Dearman 67mins), Freddy Moncur, Kai Somers, Josh Okotcha, Johnny Allotey, Max Granville, Jon Clements, Gabriel Chapps (Ike Okwusogo 70mins), Sam Mayuma. Unused subs: Exauce Kifwasime, Tom Kay, Mitch Hahn.