Rushden & Diamonds 2 York City 0

 

Rushden & Diamonds gained a convincing victory over York City at Nene Park on Tuesday evening. Second half goals from Andy Burgess and Rob Wolleaston were due reward for the Diamonds pressure, and although York did threaten a consolation goal in the last 10 minutes the Diamonds defence held firm.

Caretaker Manager Justin Edinburgh made one change to the team that played at the weekend, with Neil Cousins replacing Michael Rankine up front. York boss Martin Foyle had been forced into two changes, which included giving a start to ex-Diamond Simon Brown. Another ex-Diamond Simon Rusk was also in the starting line-up. He started with a 4-3-3 formation, with Simon Brown joining McBreen and Brodie up front.

The first half was fairly uneventful, with a Chris Hope header being the only attempt that required a save of note in the first quarter. The visitors had a scare when Neil Cousins latched onto a poorly hit backpass by Shaun Pejic, but Cousins couldn’t quite find Lee Tomlin. Cousins also combined well with Marcus Kelly early in the half, but this time a clever flick by Kelly was intercepted for a corner.

The Diamonds had a couple of other attacks of note, including an interchange, five minutes before the interval, between Tomlin and Wolleaston that saw the latter burst through and hit a low cross that almost presented Andy Burgess with a good opportunity. Tomlin and Wolleaston had also combined five minutes earlier with thestriker cutting inside but his left foot shot was wide of the right hand post. The impressive Wolleaston had also set up a chance for Andy Burgess on the edge of the area, but his shot was deflected to allow Ingham to make a save.

York had one serious attempt on goal in the first half from Richard Brodie which Dale Roberts watched go wide, and these two players were involved in an incident which saw Roberts booked after he reacted to a foul from the York striker.

The final chance of the half fell to Simon Downer in the aftermath of a free kick move after Marcus Kelly had been fouled. The Andy Burgess free kick was not dealt with, and Downer had a chance for a header, but he failed to get any power on his header and Ingham was able to gather.

Half Time : Rushden & Diamonds 0 York City 0

The second half was more eventful than the first, with the Diamonds dominating play even more than they had done in the first period. The first sign of what was to come came within the first minute after the restart, as a long ball from Dale Roberts was deftly flicked on by Lee Tomlin to Neil Cousins, but the striker’s shot was wide to the left of the goal. The lively Cousins saw a further attempt blocked during a scramble in the area as the Diamonds started to penetrate further into the York half.

There was one panic in the Diamonds defence when Simon Downer was slow to react to a routine pass across the area, and he just managed to clear the ball towards the corner flag, Curtis Osano allowed Simon Brown to get in a cross from out wide, which was just over Brodie’s head.

As the hour mark approached the Diamonds took the lead when a short corner on the left saw Lee Tomlin fire in a cross, and when the defence failed to clear, Andy Burgess was there to fire home the opening goal.

Justin Edinburgh made his first change on 68 minutes, when the hard-working Cousins was replaced by Sam Smith, andwithin a couple of minutes the substitute had played his part in the Diamonds second goal. An excellent move down the right channel saw Smith and Burgess combine with Lee Tomlin who laid the ball into the path of Rob Wolleaston who ran on to lash his shot into the net in a similar fashion to the goal he had scored on Saturday. With two goals in two games, and the man-of-the-match credit in both of them, the Diamonds fans are seeing the best of the ex-Cambridge man at present.

Rather surprisingly, Martin Foyle’s response to the second goal was to take off his two main strikers, but the replacements seemed to inject some pace and purpose into the visitors attack. The Diamonds had also reshuffled, with Michael Corcoran pushed back into defence as Jake Beecroft replaced Simon Downer who has formed a solid partnership with Chris Hope in the Diamonds defence.

The York City fans had remained rather muted for the first 80 minutes, but finally had something to lift their mood as the substitutions introduced some pace up front with Sodje and Adam Smith looking threatening, and with Boyes they created a great chance which Dale Roberts did really well to push wide. The resultant corner also caused some concern as Kurt Robinson should have been able to make an easy interception on the near post, but somehow he miskicked and the ball ricoched off several pairs of shins before being forced clear.

That was the last of the attacking threat from the visitors, and the Diamonds did threaten a third goal on the break, as first Smith, then Tomlin and then Burgess broke clear, but none of them caused too much concern for Michael Ingham. Referee Rayner and her two colleagues had also had good games, and she signalled full-time with the 2-0 scoreline a fair reflection of the Diamonds dominance, especially in the second half.

Full Time : Rushden & Diamonds 2 York City 0

Justin Edinburgh praised the performance of his team, following a slow start, and made special mention of the contribution of the Diamonds fans, who had got behind their team from before the game started, and had continued to back the side right until the final whistle.

Teams :- Rushden & Diamonds (White): Dale Roberts, Curtis Osano, Simon Downer (Jake Beecroft 76), Chris Hope, Kurt Robinson, Andy Burgess (Capt), Michael Corcoran, Rob Wolleaston, Marcus Kelly, Lee Tomlin (Michael Rankine 88), Neil Cousins (Sam Smith 68)

Subs Not Used: Joe Day, Jamie McGuinness

York City (Sky Blue / Navy Blue): Michael Ingham, Danny Parslow, , Simon Rusk (Adam Smith 67), Levi Mackin, Andy McWilliams, Kyle Critchell, Shaun Pejic, Christian Smith, Simon Brown, Daniel McBreen (Onome Sodje 73), Richard Brodie (Adam Boyes 73)

Subs Not Used:, Mark Greaves, Simon Russell

Goals : Burgess (58), Wolleaston (71)

Yellow Card : Roberts

Referee : Ms A Rayner

Attendance : 1020 (Away 87)

Diamonds Man of the Match sponsored by Pestfree : Rob Wolleaston.