Down at the Diamonds

AFC Rushden & Diamonds turn their focus to the FA Trophy as they travel to Matlock Town on Saturday (30th) for their Third Qualifying Round tie.   Diamonds face their third consecutive away tie in cup competitions this season after trips to Coalville Town and Peterborough Sports in the FA Cup and Southern League Challenge Cup respectively.   Andy Peaks is informed of the threats that the Northern Premier League leaders will pose and believes that the recent win over Stratford will boost confidence going into this tie.   “It’s a tough, tough game,” admitted Peaks.   “We’ve got a good report on them, I’ve had them watched twice and we know they’re going to be a good team.”   “We know it will be really tough but the three points today [versus Stratford] will give everyone a bit of confidence, hopefully galvanise everyone and we go there to go and have a real go”.    Keep the Opposition Guessing   Over the years, Andy Peaks’ sides have become syno...

  AFC Rushden & Diamonds returned to winning ways with an important victory at Stratford Town on Tuesday (26th).   Ravi Shamsi’s curling free-kick separated the sides in the first half with Joseph Magunda equalising for the hosts but Ryan Hughes scored with his second-half header to seal a Diamonds win.   “I fancied us if I’m being honest,” Peaks beamed.   “As much as they’re [Stratford] at home, the pressure is always on you at home against teams that you like to beat or expect to beat.”   “These are in a good vein of form themselves, they’ve done well in the FA Cup and I thought it was a good opportunity for us to come away from home and really express ourselves - I thought everybody in the squad was superb tonight”.   There was one one change made to the side which drew with Biggleswade Town at the weekend as Tom Lorraine replaced the injured Ben Diamond.   The Rushden manager revealed the extend of Diamond’s injury but i...

  AFC Rushden & Diamonds are back on the road this Tuesday (26th) as they head to Stratford Town in the Southern League Premier Central.   The Diamonds are enduring a difficult run of form having gone seven games without a win but a change of scenery could represent a fresh opportunity.   Andy Peaks understands that the pressure is mounting on his side but insists that they should be looking forward to their challenge in Stratford.   “I’ve got a couple of reports on them [Stratford],” said Peaks.   “Stratford is a different challenge. We’ll go there, perhaps not quite as fancied but it might be a completely different game [to Biggleswade] and we might go and get a result there.”   “We’ll look at a strategy where I feel we can hurt them and it won’t just be going long and direct all the time.”   A Change in Style?   Rushden picked up their second league clean sheet of the season against Biggleswade Town and have only conceded five goals in thei...

  AFC Rushden & Diamonds were held to a goalless draw by a resilient Biggleswade Town at Hayden Road on Saturday (23 rd ). It was a game where chances came at a premium with neither side able to break through the other. The visitors were reduced to ten men in the second half when Robert Parker committed a second bookable offence but the Waders held on to take a draw. Andy Peaks admitted that Biggleswade were always going to provide a stern test but was ultimately disappointed not to take all three points. “I’m disappointed that we haven’t won the game if I’m being really honest,” said Peaks. “Obviously we’re at home and you want to pick three points up against a team like Biggleswade, they’ve had some good results recently, but we’re at home.” “I thought it was always going to be tough after the whammy we had the other night [defeat to Barwell] – well the last two games, conceding late goals and getting beat in games I thought we’d done well in at certain periods.” ...

  AFC Rushden & Diamonds suffered late heartbreak on Tuesday (19th) as they fell to a narrow defeat against Barwell at Hayden Road.   In a match where Diamonds dominated proceedings and created better chances, the Barwell backline stood firm and ultimately went on to steal the three points with Harry Bower’s goal on the brink of stoppage time.   Andy Peaks was largely satisfied with the performance from his side and feels that Diamonds were hit by the cruel side of football.   “I’m absolutely gutted,” said Peaks.   “I don’t think there was a lot wrong from the first minute to the last – apart from not putting the ball in the net! We keep saying that if you don’t score goals [or] you don’t take chances when you’re on top, you don’t win games of football.”   There were two changes to the side from the Alvechurch defeat with Sam Warburton coming in for the injured Liam Dolman and Fernando Bell-Toxtle replacing the departed Jay Williams....

AFC Rushden & Diamonds will look to respond to the disappointment of the Alvechurch defeat as they meet Barwell on Tuesday (19th) at Hayden Road.   Andy Peaks’ side are heading into the third of four consecutive home games and considering their recent results, there seems to be a greater significance on taking three points from this midweek match.   The Diamonds boss insisted that every game is a big game in this division and that every point must be earned.   “You look at the run of home games we’ve got and we need to pick points up,” said Peaks.   “We got a point the other night [versus Rushall] which is great if you win today [versus Alvechurch]. We haven’t won today so we need to go and win on Tuesday against Barwell. Is that going to be easy? No it’s not.”   Time to bounce back   Diamonds are currently enduring a difficult period of results and are winless in their last five matches. Despite their stutter in form, it hasn’t drastically affected the...

  AFC Rushden & Diamonds continue their Southern League Premier Central campaign as they host Alvechurch at Hayden Road on Saturday (16th).   Diamonds enter this match off the back of the midweek draw with Rushall Olympic and Andy Peaks will be hoping they can build on the positive aspects from that match.   The Diamonds manager acknowledges that Alvechurch have made an impressive start to the season and insists that his side will need to do the basics well if they are to win the match.   “They’ve won quite a few games,” said Peaks.   “They’re never an easy team to play against. I know Longy [Alvechurch manager] quite well and they’re always very competitive.”   “Every game in this league is hard. If you’re not at it and you don’t do the right things; you don’t win your tackles, your headers, track your runners, defend set-pieces well, you don’t win games of football. We’ve done that really well last two games; I want to do that agai...