Andy Peaks takes plenty of positives from Stourbridge draw | Stourbridge 1-1 AFC R&D

 

AFC Rushden & Diamonds were held to a draw by Stourbridge at the War Memorial Athletic Ground on Saturday (9^th).

Rushden hit the front and took an early lead, against the run of play, courtesy of Connor Furlong’s first goal for the club but Melis Bushaj swept in the Stourbridge equaliser to cancel out the opener.

Thomas Taylor was sent off for a second bookable offence late on in the match but despite taking control and applying the pressure, Diamonds were unable to force a late winner in the West Midlands.

Andy Peaks made three changes to the side that exited the Southern League Challenge Cup on Tuesday and made the noticeable decision to field four natural central defenders as part of his backline.

The Diamonds manager felt his decisions paid dividends on the pitch but despite the omissions of Sam Warburton and Ben Garwood, he was willing to clarify the situation and offer support to his usual full backs.

“I thought defensively we were much better today,” Peaks stated.

“Both Sam and Ben have come into the team this year, they’ve both stepped up a level and had some good games. At times, they’ve struggled at certain areas – as the team have to be honest. I just felt it would do them good to come out of the team today and they’ll definitely come back stronger.”

“They’re both big characters, good players and sometimes you have to do it not just for the good of the team but also for the good of the individual and I felt that was what I did today.”

Stourbridge took the early initiative in possession and started to mark their territory with a couple of early chances. Ben O’Hanlon dragged his effort wide of the mark before Ethan Moran skipped through but was denied by Dean Snedker in goal.

Despite the early dominance from the hosts, it was the visitors who made the breakthrough. Connor Furlong took the ball into his stride from a Ben Diamond pass and proceeded to cut onto his right foot and curl his effort into the top corner.

The winger, who joined from Biggleswade Town, was making his first league start and he repaid the faith of his management by opening his Diamonds account.

“He’s got lots of ability,” said Peaks.

“I’ve seen a lot from him in training – he’s been in and out – his end product, like all wingers, needs to be better but today he showed that. It was an absolutely fantastic finish!”

Diamonds grew in confidence after the opening goal by beginning to display the resilience and organisation which are traits often associated with Andy Peaks’ teams. They limited their hosts to very few clear chances but Stourbridge began to crank up the pressure towards the end of the half.

Peaks acknowledged that the Stourbridge pressure was ‘inevitable’ but believes with players like Ravi Shamsi in his side, Diamonds will always carry a threat of their own.

“I think when you come away from home against a club like Stourbridge, they’re going to have spells of possession,” said Peaks.

“They had a lot of set-pieces and I was pleased with the way we defended them after Tuesday night so that was another positive.”

“They were going to have spells especially with Ravi in the midfield because he is a luxury. We didn’t have three dogs in there to keep winning possession so you sacrifice a little bit but you know that when he [Ravi] does get the ball you can get a bit of magic going which we nearly had in the second half.”

Diamonds started the second period on the front foot and created a couple of opportunities to add to their lead – most notably with Ben Diamond who raced through on goal only to have his effort matched by Charlie Price.

Stourbridge held their own and soon after found their equaliser. Ryan Hughes’ headed clearance broke for substitute Melis Bushaj who shifted the ball onto his left foot and fired his effort across Snedker and into the far corner.

“Sometimes in football you have to take your hat off to a good goal,” said Peaks.

“It’s fell onto his [Bushaj’s] left foot and it’s a great strike. I don’t think there’s a lot we could have done about that – that’s football. It wasn’t particularly our mistake but it was good from their point of view.”

“They’re at home but we regrouped, they haven’t really hurt us after that particularly and we found our way back into the game.”

Stourbridge were reduced to ten men late on as Thomas Taylor tripped Nathan Tshikuna to receive a second yellow card and a subsequent red.

From then on, Diamonds sensed an opportunity to steal the points and created a handful of promising chances. Liam Dolman and Alex Collard both saw headers float over the bar and Nathan Tshikuna tested the goalkeeper with a bending strike from range.

Peaks’ side were left to rue their misfortune in front of goal but the Diamonds manager was also pleased with his side’s discipline to give nothing away in the closing stages.

“We had a really good spell in the last 15 minutes – certainly after the sending off”, said Peaks.

“We had some good half-chances but nothing really dropped for us. That little bit of luck that you want when a header that [Will] Jones had hit someone and they’ve hit one against their own player and it’s dropped in the goalies arms – nothing quite dropped for us.”

“But even at that stage, where there’s ten men, you’ve still got to keep that back door shut because football has a habit of just when you think you’ve cracked it and it’s a matter of time until you score, there can be a breakaway and suddenly they’ve scored so I was pleased because it never looked likely that they were going to do that.”