Cheltenham Town	Lincoln City	Rochdale	Cambridge United	West Ham United	Bristol Rovers
Macclesfield Town	Rushden & Diamonds	Wycombe Wanderers	Notts County	Kidderminster Harriers	Colchester United
Darlington	Boston United	Swansea City	Scunthorpe United	Shrewsbury Town	Northampton Town
Shrewsbury Town	Oxford United	Luton Town	Yeovil Town	Grimsby Town	Northampton Town
Leyton Orient	Bury	Chester City	Wycombe Wanderers	Mansfield Town	Rushden & Diamonds
Kidderminster Harriers	Boston United	Notts County	Mansfield Town	Swindon Town	Darlington
Swansea City	Scunthorpe United	Bristol Rovers	Northampton Town	Shrewsbury Town	Bury
Chester City	Bristol Rovers	Lincoln City	Cheltenham Town	Rochdale	Cambridge United
Bristol Rovers	Wrexham	Leyton Orient	Macclesfield Town	Oxford United	Yeovil Town
Grimsby Town	Northampton Town	Northampton Town	Lincoln City

Bentley in action as a substitute in the FA Cup against Luton Town

The former Enfield Town battler had made a tough transition to League football during the tail end of the 2004/5 campaign, but if it was a difficult transfer from Dagenham & Redbridge, he made sure that the next time round he would prove to be a valuable member of the side.

Whilst those around him were struggling to find form in the opening gambits of the campaign, ‘Beno’ was toughing it out, earning the respect of opponents with a series of whole-hearted displays. He looked to single-handedly be earning Blues three points at home to Wycombe Wanderers with his first goal of the season, but a suspiciously offside-looking goal and then a screamer from Danny Senda consigned United to a 2-1 defeat.

Bentley was revelling in the absence of Kevin Maher, but with his skipper reinstated, the 25-year-old started to form one of the most formidable central midfield pairings in League Two, although it was cruelly split up when Paul Robinson ridiculously sent off the combative talent at Colchester United in the LDV Vans Trophy. Although Blues appealed against the decision, this was overturned, ironically after the 4-0 shambles at Darlington, and with Lewis Hunt playing well in his three-game absence, Bentley was not automatically assured of a return to the team.

He bided his time on the substitutes’ bench, and when handed a chance to impress, netted at home to Shrewsbury Town in an LDV mauling. A sterling few minutes in the rain against the Salop at Gay Meadow had by then intensified calls for his reinstatement. Finally he came back, at Yeovil Town, and thereafter he missed just three games, all through suspension.

Indeed, if midfield partner Maher has a suspect disciplinary record, then Bentley’s is positively awful, with fourteen bookings allied to that dismissal at Layer Road. A run of three bookings in the play-off matches almost earned the midfielder another ban at the start of 2005/6, which would have made his beginning to life in League One hard.

Possessing one of the strongest shots in the Shrimpers side, he finished the campaign with five goals, the remainder coming against Rushden & Diamonds, Darlington and Rochdale, all of which were eventually comfortable victories. He often pushes forward well, but an incapacity to finish with his head has meant the Bentley is less effective than he could be.

Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com