Stratford Town secured a remarkable 1-0 victory at Bishop's Stortford on a day when numerical disadvantage proved no obstacle to three points, writes Steve Wood.

Kobe Hall's close-range finish in the 77th minute separated the sides at the Grundon Community Stadium. Still, the story of the afternoon belonged to the Bards' resilience in the face of adversity.

The most bizarre of a number of refereeing episodes came 20 minutes into the game, when the Bishop’s Stortford bench demanded the referee stop play because the Bards’ head coach was wearing the wrong footwear.

There was an extraordinarily long delay as the referee, under pressure from the Stortford bench, insisted that Paul Davis was removed from the field of play.

Allegedly, the referee said that the game would be abandoned if the coach didn’t move outside of the artificial surface (not the playing surface) because he was wearing flat trainers.

What was equally odd was when the referee arrived for his warm-up pre-match in what looked like flat trainers; he appeared to check with the groundsman that, provided he didn’t run off the playing surface, he was ok to carry on, which he did! But who knows?

The Bards’ starting line-up saw one change with Harry Hawkins replacing Dan Lafferty, who was suspended for one game, but there were changes on the bench with the return of Cyrus Bruce and Bards Academy player Ellis Baker.

Bishops Stortford had invested in a new artificial surface over the summer and for long stretches this was a match that looked destined for a stalemate.

The Bards had dominated the first half territorially, with Adam Jasper, Zach McKenzie and Kobe Hall combining repeatedly to threaten a Bishop's Stortford backline that relied on Kirill Halenin to repel much of the danger.

Reece Flanagan's deliveries and Josh Hawker's long throws gave the visitors a physical threat from set pieces early on, and Kory Roberts was unfortunate not to convert a header that Calum Barnes tipped over.

Jake Weaver picked up a yellow card for a foul on the edge of his own area with the partisan crowd baying for a red and there were goal line clearances to keep a large following of the Bardy Army excited!

At the start of the second half, the referee was the last to arrive with both sets of teams waiting to start and then proceeded to have a very long conversation with Kory Roberts.

The second half then continued in a similar vein, the Bards probing without the decisive touch until the game's complexion shifted dramatically. Tionne Critchlow-Woyo received a straight red card in the 62nd minute, leaving Stratford Town with 10 men, the full back finally reacting to a succession of hair-pulling allegations.

Rather than retreat, the Bards reorganised and continued to threaten and looked a side determined to put right the perceived wrongs.

Dan Vann was introduced from the bench at 72 minutes in place of Zach McKenzie, who had picked up a yellow card in the first half.

It was from sustained pressure in the final third that the breakthrough arrived: Flanagan's corner was flicked to the back post by Kory Roberts, and Hall stabbed the ball home with a toe-poke from inside two feet of the goal line in the 77th minute to the delight of the Bardy Army behind the goal.

Bishop's Stortford pushed for an equaliser and Vann's very harsh red card in the 89th minute reduced the Bards to nine men, but the defence held firm with Jake Weaver being called upon to make a series of stunning saves.

I-Lani Edwards, who had replaced Hall at 84 minutes, made several sweeping clearances to repel the late pressure, and Jack Bearne came on in stoppage time for Harry Hawkins as the Bards played out the six minutes of added time.

What this performance demonstrated, above all, was resilience. Stratford Town arrived at Bishop's Stortford's new 3G surface without Dan Lafferty, suspended after his fifth yellow card of the season, and they absorbed a physical contest.

When Critchlow-Woyo was dismissed just after the hour, the natural expectation was that a team already stretched would yield. Instead, the Bards scored. When Vann followed him to the dressing room nine minutes from time, leaving the Bards with nine, they dug in and saw it out through six added minutes, during which they were under genuine siege from the Blues’ attack.

The Bards go again on Tuesday evening for the visit of Banbury United, having now extended their unbeaten run to eight games.

Bishops Stortford: Barnes, Barton, Halenin, Haines, Baker, Titchmarsh, Norris, Russell, Virciglio, Smith, Greene. Subs not used: Nardelli, Powell, Jessey, Chukwu-Nsofor, Colletti.

Stratford Town: Weaver, Critchlow-Woyo, Brennan, Hawker, McCone, Roberts, Flanagan, Hawkins (Bearne 90+4), McKenzie (Vann 72), Hall (Edwards 84), Jasper. Subs not used: Bruce, Baker.

Referee: Zak Demetriades

Attendance: 355