Worthing 0 Bedford 1 Sammy Donnelly will this week rally his deflated squad and tell them: "You are still on course for promotion."

Worthing are glad of a week's break to rest their aches and strains after slithering to a second defeat in eight days in this Ryman League 'six-pointer'.

Victory would have made it the club's best start to a season since the heady Premier days of 1983 and taken them to second in the table.

Instead, Bedford repeated last season's success at Woodside Road and deserved to win by more than Mark Paul's 49th-minute conversion of a precise Carl Drew through ball.

The pack are starting to reel in the early division one pacesetters such as Worthing and Boreham Wood, who crashed 4-0 on Saturday, and it is looking like the race for a top-three berth will again be wide open.

You could not help but draw comparisons with another notable 1-0 away win as Saturday's events unfolded beneath slate grey skies.

At least we were spared the after-match theatricals from the losing manager.

While Kevin Keegan kept the newshounds waiting 45 minutes before throwing in the towel, Worthing boss Donnelly looked ahead and dealt happily with a media scramble which comprised a lone press man and a telephone call from local radio.

Donnelly who, like Keegan, has attempted to curb his natural instinct for cavalier football, said: "We've played ten games and we've got 21 points.

"I've just told my lads that if we get 21 from the next ten I'll be happy with them.

"I'm taking it in tens. If we keep going like this, over the 42 games, that will take us up to 80-odd points."

Rebels have dealt efficiently with opponents from mid and lower table but this was their third defeat against sides hoping to step up.

It is not a statistic which concerns the popular boss.

He said: "I feel it is the sides down the bottom who will take points off you and stop you getting out of this league.

"Bedford are a quality side. I've always considered they will be near the top. This is a tough league but we'll keep battling."

Nor are Worthing in any rush to demolish their own Twin Towers.

The club have allowed telephone masts to be built at either end of their impressive main stand and they provide a valuable source of income.

Worthing's budget is the envy of many County League managers but does not come close to those enjoyed by other clubs at this higher level.

Donnelly, who expects to meet with his board in the next few days to discuss funding, revealed: "My budget is not even half what some of the clubs in this league have.

"One of the strikers in this division is reportedly on £1,000 a week.

"The club can only give me what they can afford, I realise that. I would not hold them to ransom but neither can I bring a boy in just because he only gets £10.

"I'm always looking to add to the squad but they have to be better than what I've got."

The current line-up is certainly rich in experience, including former professionals Damian Webber, Stuart Tuck, Simon Funnell and the most recent capture Ben Andrews.

It was stray pass from the former Albion stopper which allowed Bedford to break away for their winning goal and he had his hands full all afternoon with the wily Drew.

Andrews is keen to follow in the footsteps of David Cameron, who used a successful stint at Worthing as his path back into the Nationwide League.

For now, he is combining a job in the leisure industry with the non-League game and admitted: "Professional football is a lot quicker but I don't think the standard is that different. It's still a good level here.

"Maybe we panicked in the second half and tried to play the long ball when we should have done something different.

"But Sammy's come in after the game and told us 'don't worry, it's a long season'."

That second period was a letdown after an excellent opening half which Worthing shaded.

Gary Green and Ben Carrington were denied by super saves and Carrington and Marc Rice also went close as Rebels recovered from the scare of a disallowed Gavin Jaggard goal inside two minutes.

Worthing, with Mark Burt and Green hindered by injury, struggled to get players arriving late from midfield to supplement the efforts of their front two.

Their widemen were shackled and Funnell's volley wide was their only decent effort of a second half in which Richard Waters made four good saves and Paul had a goal ruled out for offside.

Hardly a decent reward for 400 or so diehards who considered a dull afternoon at Woodside to be of more interest than the momentous events at Wembley.

At least for them, unlike KK, there is always next week.

Worthing: Waters, Smith, Tuck (sub: Weston 79), Burt, Andrews, Webber, Kennett, Green, Rice, Brackley, Carrington (sub: Funnell 45). Unused sub: Cox. Yellow card: Andrews, Tuck, Webber, Green (all fouls).

Bedford: Heeps, Haley (sub: Jackman 50), Wilson, Covington, Sherlock, Dyer, Jaggard (sub: Payne 82), Turner, Paul, Drew, Lawley. Unused sub: Slinn. Yellow card: Sherlock (foul).

Referee: C. Row.

Attendance: 358.

Men-of-the-match: Waters (Worthing), Drew (Bedford).