Diamonds 0 Leyton Orient 1

 

 

Substitute Lee Steele scored with his first touch to send Diamonds out of the F A Cup.

 

Manager Barry Hunter made three changes from the side that drew at Darlington last weekend. Goalkeeper John Ruddy and striker Chris O’Grady were unavailable so Jamie Young returned between the posts and Drewe Broughton came into the attack to partner Alun Armstrong. Rob Gier was ruled out through injury so Peter Hawkins started at right back.

 

Leyton Orient boasted an unbeaten record away from home in the league and they were without midfielder Craig Easton and defender Jon Mackie both through suspension.

 

The visitors put together the first real attack on 3 minutes Gary Alexander found Shane Tudor speeding down the right flank and when the cross came in Jabo Ibehre controlled the ball superbly on his chest but Phil Gulliver blocked the shot. From the resultant Matthew Lockwood corner Alexander headed wide.

 

Armstrong found space in the penalty area a minute later after Hawkins cross came back to him but the deflected shot was well saved by Glyn Garner. David Bell then hit a 20 yard effort disappointingly off target.

 

Daryl McMahon was next to try his luck with a speculative volley which went well wide while Lockwood struck a 25-yard shot all along the ground which Young saved at the second attempt.

 

The game was end to end and Diamonds came close to opening the scoring on 26 minutes. Broughton’s cross shot was parried by Garner but with Armstrong breathing down his neck, Justin Miller made an excellent block to deny the former Premiership man.

 

Eight minutes later Bell’s pin point cross picked out Armstrong and his header was superbly tipped over the bar by Garner. From the resultant corner Marcus Kelly got in a header which was cleared.

 

Two minutes from the interval, Orient missed a glorious chance to go in front. Alexander found Tudor on the right and his low cross picked out Lockwood at the far post but the defender failed to control his shot and it hit the side netting.

 

Half – Time Diamonds 0 – 0 Leyton Orient

 

Early in the second half trickery from Andy Burgess allowed Broughton the chance to flick on but Armstrong wasn’t able to get on the end of it. Bell then saw a header saved by Garner.

 

 

McMahon tried his luck from long range but only succeeded in clearing the Peter De Banke Terrace!

 

On the hour a four man move involving Dave Savage, Bell and Neil McCafferty gave Kelly a shooting chance which went narrowly wide. At the other end Orient seemed to have a reasonable claim for a penalty when Alexander appeared to be pushed in the box by Andy Burgess but the referee waived play on but it didn’t matter because the visitors took the lead on 66 minutes.

 

Joe Keith played the ball inside to Donny Barnard and when he crossed from the right Young made a fantastic point blank save to deny Alexander but the rebound fell to substitute Lee Steele who tapped home with his first touch of the game.

 

Despite being obviously stung, Diamonds refused to be too downcast and McCafferty tried his luck from 25 yards but was well wide. Armstrong was over the top with a shot from the edge of the penalty area while Kelly’s header was just wide following Bell’s cross.

 

Young then pulled off a superb save to deny Alexander who’d broken clear on the left while the same player went close again four minutes from time but Young got enough on the ball to deflect it wide.

 

So Diamonds are out of the F A Cup and now free to concentrate on League survival. They have two important home league games this week with the visit of Carlisle on Tuesday and Mansfield on Saturday.

 

Teams:

 

Rushden & Diamonds: – Jamie Young, Phil Gulliver, Peter Hawkins (Gary Mills 87), Dave Savage (c), Drewe Broughton (Greg Pearson 66), David Bell, Andy Burgess, John Dempster, Neil McCafferty, Alun Armstrong (Lee Tomlin 81), Marcus Kelly,

 

Subs Not Used: Magnus Okuonghae, Ashlee Jones

 

Leyton Orient: – Glyn Garner, Donny Barnard, Matthew Lockwood, Michael Simpson, Gary Alexander (c), Joe Keith, Gabriel Zakuani, Justin Miller (Brian Saah 53), Shane Tudor(Wayne Carlisle 77), Daryl McMahon, Jabo Ibehre (Lee Steele 64)

 

Subs Not Used:  Efe Echanomi, Jason Demetriou

 

Booked: McCafferty 14 (Foul), Ibehre 37 (Foul), Broughton 59 ( Diving), Dempster 81 (Foul), Mills & Simpson 90 (Unsporting Behaviour)

 

MOM: John Dempster