Rushden & Diamonds 3 Scarborough 2

 

FA Carlsberg Trophy

Rushden and Diamonds were very fortunate to move to the second round of the FA Carlsberg Trophy with a 3-2 win over Scarborough courtesy of a winning goal scored by Curtis Woodhouse in the third minute of injury time.

Rushden reverted to a 4-4-2 formation after the 4-5-1 of last Saturday, with Daniel Chillingworth earning a rare start in place of the absent Tom Shaw. Jon Ashton remained at right back, with Glenn Wilson only returning to the bench.

Scarborough fielded the side that completed their game against Redditch in midweek.

Yet another bright winter day greeted the two sides, with Denny Ingram the Scarborough captain asking Rushden to kick off facing the last of the afternoon sun.

The first half started brightly, with Scarborough winning a corner straight from the kick off, and a late flag depriving Dan Chillingworth of a run through on goal.

After 5 minutes a great hook forwards by Dave Savage found the overlapping Jon Ashton. His well hit shot seemed to be covered by goalkeeper Wilberforce, but the linesman on the North Stand side flagged that the ball had crossed the line, and a goal was awarded. The Scarborough protests resulted in Wilberforce earning the first yellow card of the game, but the goal stood.

The 4-4-2 formation appeared to be working well, with a number of chances being created early on, notably by Marcus Kelly, whose good work earned the Diamonds first corner on 15 minutes.

This corner was taken by Paul Watson, and via a near post flick on the ball reached Daniel Chillingworth who headed it home to give Diamonds a 2-0 lead.

However, any thought that the game was about to become one-way traffic were quickly dispelled, as Scarborough launched a series of quick breaks with their wide men looking especially dangerous. On 22 minutes a fairly innocuous long ball that Wayne Hatswell appeared to have plenty of time to deal with, suddenly became dangerous as he dwelt on the ball, in the vain hope it might roll out for a goal kick, allowing Tony Hackworth to challenge and win the ball, and then fire a powerful shot that beat Nicky Eyre on his near post.

Worse was to come on 28 minutes, when an attempted clearance by Wayne Hatswell skewed straight into the air, and then an attempted punch by Eyre also went straight up and down, and fell to 16-years old Ged Dalton to rifle home.

So, with only 30 minutes gone, four goals had been scored and yet the quality of play was more akin to what might be seen in Nationwide North.

On 31 minutes Mark Hotte became the second player to see yellow following a foul on Tyrone Berry.

The match then began to calm down, but there was still time before half-time for Michael Rankine to hit a good shot, well saved by Wilberforce, and a great run by Dave Savage, beating three men, until stopped by the fourth defender.

Scarborough remained a threat, with Jon Ashton having to show how well he had fitted in to the right back role to stop good runs from left winger Darren Thornton. In fact, they could easily have taken the lead, as Jamie Vermiglio ran through a static defence to hit a shot that beat Eyre, but hit the far post, then rolled just in front of the goalline towards the near post until cleared.

Half-time: Rushden & Diamonds 2 – 2 Scarborough

The second half started brightly with Wilberforce making a great save from Rankine, but on the whole the half failed to provide the action seen in the first half. Although the Diamonds had more of possession, their final shots lacked conviction. Scarborough, on the other hand, pulled out a number of good saves from Nicky Eyre as he attempted to atone for his part in the Scarborough goals.

At the other end Wayne Hatswell also had a couple of goal-scoring chances from set pieces to make amends, but each only resulted in an easy save for Wilberforce.

Tony Godden then started to change things to try and force a result, with Simeon Jackson coming on for Tyrone Berry, initially playing out wide right, then Greg Pearson came on for Rankine, but perhaps it was the final substitution was the most telling, as Ben Sedgemore came on for Chilli, with Simeon moving to the middle and Curtis Woodhouse pushing forwards.

The three minutes of the signalled added minutes were up, with the referee checking his watch for what appeared to be the final time, as a cross from the right was met at the far post by Curtis Woodhouse, whose well directed shot nestled into the far corner.

The referee allowed play to restart, and another Eyre save prevented a dramatic equaliser before the final whistle sounded.

Diamonds players, officials and fans can breathe a sigh of relief that they do not have to make the long trip North on Tuesday night. Although they shaded the midfield battle, it was the Scarborough attack that caused the most trouble for the opposition goalkeeper.

Full-time: Rushden & Diamonds 3 – 2 Scarborough

Teams:

Rushden & Diamonds: Nicky Eyre, Paul Watson, Jon Ashton, Chris Hope, Wayne Hatswell, Dave Savage, Michael Rankine (Greg Pearson 78), Marcus Kelly, Tyrone Berry (Simeon Jackson 62), Daniel Chillingworth (Ben Sedgemore 87), Curtis Woodhouse.

Subs not used: Scott Tynan, Glenn Wilson

Scarborough: Mark Wilberforce, Ashley Lyth, Mark Hotte, Lee Cartwright, Jimmy Beadle, Denny Ingram, Ged Dalton (Ryan Blott 80), Jamie Vermiglio, Tony Hackworth, Chris Thompson, Darren Thornton.

Subs not used: Dominic Amos, Sean Davies

Goals: Wilberforce (O.G) (5 mins), Chillingworth (15 mins), Hackworth (22 mins), Dalton (28 mins), Woodhouse (90+3 mins)

Booked: Wilberforce (5 – dissent), Hotte (31 – foul).

Sent Off:

Referee: Mr M Naylor (Sheffield)

Attendance: 1,152 (Away 114).

Diamonds Man of the Match: Curtis Woodhouse