The Eagles’ fourth and final home game of the 2016 season takes place this Sunday as we welcome the Doncaster Mustangs to Bedford International Athletics Stadium in the Midlands Football Conference (12pm).
TThe Mustangs were formed in 2002 by Mark Blyth, Doug McLean and James Berry, who had grown tired of driving to Merseyside to coach and play for the Nighthawks each weekend.
In the team’s second year they won the BAFL Division 2 title following an undefeated season which culminated in a 32-13 win over the Chiltern (now Hertfordshire) Cheetahs at the Don Valley Stadium in the bowl game.
The team made it back to the play-offs in 2005, and in 2007 moved to the newly-opened Keepmoat Stadium.
After three seasons in the Premier Division North between 2012 and 2014 where they posted successive records of 6-3-1, 6-4 and 0-9, the Mustangs were relegated to the restructured Northern Football Conference 1.
Last season the Mustangs went 4-6 to finish eighth in NFC 1, which included a strong finish to the campaign that saw them win their last three games.
Their first game of the season was the 13-12 defeat against the Eagles on 17th April, and they picked up their first win two weeks later against the Birmingham Bulls (20-13).
Since then they beat the impressive Sandwell Steelers 6-3, lost at the Nottingham Caesars (16-12) before getting their revenge at home (36-19).
In their last two games they completed the double over the Bulls thanks to a convincing 30-12 win at the Keepmoat, but in their last game went down 48-0 away to the Steelers.
After Peterborough pulled out of the league Sunday is the Mustangs’ last game of the season, and a win should be good enough to secure a play-off place.
The Eagles meanwhile come into the game on the back of an impressive 40-19 victory over the Nottingham Caesars last month to move to 4-4 for the season, with a place in the play-offs still a possibility.
Team News
The Eagles will be without Kevin Kong, Miguel Alvarez-Frias, Nathaniel Ashby and Oliver Lattimer, as well as long-term injury victims defensive back Vasco Dias (knee), offensive lineman James Busby (leg) and defensive lineman Anthony Ogunleye (shoulder).
In this week’s Programme
This week’s programme cover features Chairman and Offensive Coordinator Neale McMaster.
Inside we hear from McMaster, Interim Head Coach Darren Hill and Rookie of the Week Nathan Spencer.
We also have a feature on our visitors the Doncaster Mustangs, a Spectator Guide and more.
The programme is free with admission (£2 each for adults or free for under-18s).
Directions
Our home games are played at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, Barkers Lane, Bedford MK41 9SB.
The Bedford River Festival is taking place this weekend which means there may be some road closures in place around the Embankment, so please ensure you leave extra time to get to BIAS for the game:
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