Sammy Donnelly night admitted his promotion dream was dead after a stunning second-half collapse by his fading Rebels.

The Worthing boss and his players trooped off looking shell-shocked after seeing their two- goal half time lead blown away by their Ryman League division one promotion rivals at Woodside Road.

He later emerged grim-faced from an unusally silent changing room to say: "Unless the players want to prove me wrong, I would imagine promotion has now gone. We are gutted. I have always said 2-0 is a dangerous lead to have but we should have been good enough to defend it properly.

"We lived dangerously from free-kicks in the first half but we didn't learn our lesson and in the second they scored from four setpieces. You never know in football but winning promotion now would be like winning the lottery."

He then revealed: "I was going to make a major signing this week but I will now be calling that off." Donnelly had been preceded out of the changing rooms by a succession of dejected-looking players, including skipper Mark Burt, who admitted: "That was embarrassing."

Yet the visitors, themselves desperate for a win to keep alive their top-flight ambitions, had always looked capable of upsetting their hosts in what gradually developed into a most enthralling contest.

Both sides needed a win to keep their slim promotion hopes alive and Bedford shaded the first 44 minutes of the opening half. Rebels, however, somehow managed to go in with a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals in three minutes.

They got the bit of luck they needed on 44 minutes when Simon Funnell sent a right-foot cross swirling over hapless goalkeeper Ben Nower inside the far post. That was a pure fluke but the goal which followed in stoppage time was a beauty.

The busy Funnell slid a clever ball inside the right-back, Lee Weston raced on to it and, as Nower advanced, squared for Marc Rice to finish from close range. No wonder Bedford looked bemused as they trudged in for their half time cuppas.

They deserved to be ahead at that point and had caused trouble with high balls into the box, but Paul Daniels blasted a good chance over and Paul Covington had a drive blocked on the line by Simon James.

But they only needed a minute of the second period to re-ignite the contest as Gavin Jaggard swept home a shot on the turn. Lee Bray kept Rebels ahead with a great save from Daniels before the impressive Sam Banya, signed on Monday from Kettering, turned the match with an overhead kick, then a textbook downward header.

Worthing's response was to send on Ben Carrington and, when he was tripped by Steve Searle, Funnell drilled home an equaliser from the spot. That came on 82 minutes and for a while it seemed Worthing might snatch the win their ambition demanded.

But instead Bedford flung in another high ball and Gary Williams forced in the 89th-minute winner in a chaotic scramble. The visitors were delirious but there was still one final twist to an extraordinary evening.

Guy Rutherford crossed from the right, Williams this time headed towards his own net and Nower produced a stunning save to finally break home hearts.

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