York City 2 Rushden & Diamonds 0

Rushden & Diamonds lost by a goal in each half to York City at Bootham Crescent on Saturday afternoon. The first-half goal was scored after 18 minutes by Mark Robinson as he slotted home a Craig Farrell cross from the right that had been flicked on by Daniel McBreen. Although the Diamonds started the second half brightly, they were hit on the break by City, with Craig Farrell finding space in the area to knock a low shot past Roberts from a cross from the right.

Manager Garry Hill started with a 4-3-3 formation, that included Lee Tomlin up-front on the left, with Andy Burgess and Michael Corcoran joining Curtis Woodhouse in centre midfield. Daryl Clare was only on the bench, with Tomlin joined up-front by Leon Knight and Lee Phillips on the right. Gareth Jelleyman returned to the side at left-back.

The Diamonds had the lion’s share of the possession in the first half, playing against the wind, although they created few clearcut chances – the only real threat on goal came from an Andy Burgess shot that was easily caught by the York keeper. A series of corners followed, but neither Burgess nor Tomlin could find the ball to create a clear-cut chance, relying too much on looking for Hope flick-ons which failed to find a Diamonds player chasing the "second ball".

York began to threaten more, and as in the Torquay game the threat from a throw-in from Ben Purkiss was not dealt with, and as the ball was flicked over Chris Hope’s head it fell to Daniel McBreen but the striker’s shot was into the side netting.

The Diamonds seem to be coping quite well with playing into the wind, although there was one scare when Chris Hope appeared to underhit a backpass, but a combination of an alert Roberts and a certain amount of wind assistance meant the keeper was able to clear. Hope also struggled with a ball over the top, which he allowed to bounce twice as a striker closed in, and then failed to find touch as he realised he was too late to head back to Roberts.

York mostly relied on creating chances on the break in the first half via the pace of Farrell and their wide players. It was via this route that their opening goal was created, as Craig Farrell chased a Purkiss ball over the defence, reaching the by-line and squaring a ball which Daniel McBreen flicked on to Mark Robinson running in from the left, and he slotted home easily.

 

The Diamonds did show one other threat towards goal during the half, with a quickly taken Lee Tomlin free kick bisecting a badly formed wall to find Leon Knight on his own on the left edge of the box, but the striker needed too much time.

The Diamonds had a scare on 22 minutes, when a Purkiss free kick was pumped into the box, and Dale Roberts and Curits Osano allowed the ball to bounce between them, giving the Minstermen two strikes on goal as panic set in to the Diamonds defence, but the final shot was just wide of the left hand post.

Apart from that a Lee Phillips header across the box was wasted by Tomlin’s poor control, and a Woodhouse cross from the left was fielded by Ingham under pressure from Tomlin. A Curtis Osano shot was the closest to causing Ingham any concern, but a deflection took the sting out of the shot, but at least the shot did reach the keeper, unlike most Diamonds attempts during the half.

 

Half-Time :York City 1 Rushden & Diamonds 0

The Diamonds started the second half very brightly, but again good work outside the box failed to create any chances that forced Michael Ingham into action, notably with two shooting chances for Andy Burgess that saw strikes straight at the defender closing him down. Five minutes into the half the home side scored their second goal, as a quick break down the right saw Rusk, Purkiss and Holmes combine for ex-Diamond Rusk fire the ball across the box from the right, finding an unmarked Craig Farrell in plenty of space, allowing him to shoot to the right of Dale Roberts.

Garry Hill made a number of changes to try to generate some kind of fire-power up front, with Daryl Clare, Sam Smith and Rob Wolleaston joining the action, but the Diamonds struggled to create clear-cut chances, with the best attempts on goal coming from Michael Corcoran and Curtis Osano. Corcoran shot just wide after good work between Lee Phillips and Curtis Osano saw an Osano cross headed out of the box for Corcoran to blast just wide. Osano combined well with a 1-2 with Andy Burgess, breaking into the box and shooting just over the bar.

York picked up their second booking for kicking the ball away during the half, and although the yellow for Wilkinson may have been rather harsh, it was the only questionable decision of the afternoon by referee Martin who had handled the match in exemplary fashion – and he rightly booked Knight for a poor tackle on Purkiss.

Other than those attempts, the home side started to look more dangerous as the Diamonds chased the game, with substitute Simon Russell impressing down the left, but they too struggled to create clear cut chances to trouble Roberts, apart from an attempt from Craig Farrell when Gareth Jelleyman slipped in the area when trying to deal with a through ball – Roberts did well to get his body in the way of the shot.

Striker Farrell left the pitch to a deserved standing ovation, as it was his running that had been the main differentiator between the two teams.

Full-Time :York City 2 Rushden & Diamonds 0

With such a disappointing set of recent results in the league, with three defeats in the four October league games, the Diamonds have a chance to put that to one side as they face Evesham United in the FA Cup next weekend – the game to be played in Worcester.

York City : (Red / Blue) Michael Ingham, Ben Purkiss, Mark Robinson, Darren Kelly, David McGurk, Daniel Parslow, Daniel McBreen, Craig Farrell, Ben Wilkinson, Simon Rusk, Peter Holmes

Subs : Mark Greaves (for Kelly 63), Simon Russell (for Wilkinson 63), Richard Brodie (for Farrell 87), Josh Mimms, Adam Boyes

Rushden & Diamonds : (Yellow) : Dale Roberts, Curtis Osano, Gareth Jelleyman, Chris Hope, Phil Gulliver, Michael Corcoran, Curtis Woodhouse, Andy Burgess, Lee Tomlin, Lee Phillips, Leon Knight

Subs : Daryl Clare (for Tomlin 65), Rob Wolleaston (for Corcoran 69), Sam Smith (for Phillips 77), Jake Beecroft, Marcus Kelly

Goals : Robinson 18, Farrell 50

Booked : Holmes, Wilkinson, Knight.

Referee : Mr S Martin

Attendance :  2313 (Away 122)

Diamonds Man of the Match : Curtis Osano.