Season 1998-99
After a record-breaking start when seven successive wins were recorded, the 1998/99 season saw the club repeat its fourth place finish in the Nationwide Conference, with the season fading quickly after a home defeat by eventual champions Cheltenham Town who scored twice in the dying minutes of the game. Early season promise had been brought via signings such as Michael McElhatton and Jon Brady, with additional players arriving during the season such as Ray Warburton.
The Northants Senior Cup was won for the second time in the clubs brief history, but the highlight of the season was undoubtedly the FA Cup run which culminated in a Third Round clash with Premiership side Leeds United. In January, before a ground record crowd of 6,431, the Diamonds secured a memorable 0-0 draw. Over 39,000 watched the replay at Elland Road eleven days later but, after taking an 11th minute lead through Carl Heggs, the cup dream was ended as the Premiership side stepped up a gear and ran out 3-1 winners.
The game at home to Kingstonian on 20th April 1999 was the 400th in the Diamonds History – see here for a reflection on that milestone.
See below for a match summary as well as links to match reports. The final league table for the season can be seen here.
See here for a detailed summary of all the games during the season, including team-line up for each game and match timings.
| Date | V | Lge | Opponent | Result | Scorers | Att |
| Sat 15/08/98 | A | Conf | Forest Grn Rvs | Won 2-0 | Whyte, og | 1120 |
| Tue 18/08/98 | H | Conf | Welling Utd | Won 3-1 | Collins/2, Foster | 2264 |
| Sat 22/08/98 | H | Conf | Barrow | Won 4-0 | Brady, Mison, Foster, Underwood | 2259 |
| Tue 25/08/98 | A | Conf | Kingstonian | Won 5-1 | Foster/3, Wooding, Collins | 2605 |
| Sat 29/08/98 | A | Conf | Southport | Won 1-0 | Collins | 1860 |
| Mon 31/08/98 | H | Conf | Hayes | Won 5-0 | Collins/2, Wooding, Foster/2 | 3208 |
| Sat 05/09/98 | A | Conf | Yeovil Town | Won 1-0 | Foster | 2876 |
| Tue 08/09/98 | A | Conf | Dover Athletic | Drew 1-1 | Foster | 1360 |
| Sat 12/09/98 | H | Conf | Telford Utd | Lost 2-3 | Foster, Collins | 2909 |
| Sat 19/09/98 | A | Conf | Doncaster Rvrs | Drew 1-1 | Foster | 3768 |
| Tue 22/09/98 | A | Conf | Leek Town (10) | Void 1-0 | Underwood | 927 |
| Sat 26/09/98 | H | Conf | Hereford Utd | Drew 1-1 | Collins | 3521 |
| Sat 03/10/98 | H | Conf | Northwich Vic | Lost 1-2 | West | 2803 |
| Sat 10/10/98 | A | Conf | Farnborough Tn | Won 2-1 | Rodwell, Collins | 958 |
| Sat 17/10/98 | H | FAC3q | Forest Grn Rvrs | Won 2-0 | Mison, Collins | 2376 |
| Sat 24/10/98 | H | Conf | Morecambe | Won 3-1 | Collins, Hamsher, Heggs | 2394 |
| Sat 07/11/98 | A | Conf | Hednesford Town | Drew 1-1 | Hanlon | 1387 |
| Mon 09/11/98 | A | FAC4q | Leatherhead | Drew 1-1 | Warburton | 1143 |
| Wed 11/11/98 | H | FAC4qr | Leatherhead | Won 4-0 | Collins, West, Heggs, Brady | 1855 |
| Sat 14/11/98 | H | FAC1 | Shrewsbury Town | Won 1-0 | Underwood | 4121 |
| Sat 21/11/98 | H | FAT2 | Bath City | Won 2-0 | Brady, og | 1989 |
| Sat 28/11/98 | A | Conf | Cheltenham Town | Lost 0-1 | – | 4051 |
| Sat 05/12/98 | A | FAC2 | Doncaster Rvrs | Drew 0-0 | – | 5396 |
| Sat 12/12/98 | A | Conf | Telford Utd | Drew 2-2 | Heggs, De Souza | 867 |
| Tue 15/12/98 | H | FAC2r | Doncaster Rvrs | Won 4-2 | Hamsher(P), West/2, Brady | 5564 |
| Sat 19/12/98 | H | Conf | Farnborough Tn | Won 1-0 | West | 2481 |
| Tue 22/12/98 | A | ET2 | Farnborough Tn | Lost 1-3 | Foster | 642 |
| Sat 26/12/98 | A | Conf | Stevenage Boro | Drew 0-0 | – | 4390 |
| Mon 28/12/98 | H | Conf | Woking | Won 2-0 | Foster, de Souza | 4307 |
| Sat 02/01/99 | H | FAC3 | Leeds Utd | Drew 0-0 | – (V) | 6431 |
| Sat 09/01/99 | A | Conf | Barrow | Won 2-0 | Cooper, de Souza | 2003 |
| Wed 13/01/99 | A | FAC3r | Leeds Utd | Lost 1-3 | Heggs (V) | 39159 |
| Sat 23/01/99 | H | Conf | Doncaster Rvrs | Lost 1-3 | og | 4507 |
| Mon 25/01/99 | A | FAT3 | Slough Town | Won 2-1 | West/2 | 729 |
| Sat 30/01/99 | A | Conf | Northwich Vic | Lost 1-2 | De Souza | 1802 |
| Tue 02/02/99 | H | Conf | Kidderminster H | Drew 1-1 | Foster | 2374 |
| Sat 06/02/99 | A | FAT4 | Woking | Drew 0-0 | – | 2788 |
| Tue 09/02/99 | H | FAT4r | Woking | Lost 1-2 | Warburton | 1955 |
| Sat 13/02/99 | A | Conf | Kidderminster H | Drew 0-0 | – | 2337 |
| Tue 16/02/99 | A | Conf | Welling Utd | Won 1-0 | Collins | 667 |
| Sat 20/02/99 | H | Conf | Hednesford Town | Won 1-0 | Collins | 3123 |
| Tue 23/02/99 | H | Conf | Southport | Won 3-1 | McElhatton, Cooper, Foster | 2135 |
| Tue 02/03/99 | A | HSCSF | Cogenhoe Utd | Drew 2-2 AET | Cramman, Rodwell | 379 |
| Sat 06/03/99 | A | Conf | Hayes | Lost 1-2 | og | 1302 |
| Tue 09/03/99 | H | Conf | Stevenage Boro | Won 2-1 | Collins/2 | 3169 |
| Sat 13/03/99 | H | Conf | Leek Town | Won 2-0 | Collins, McElhatton | 2833 |
| Tue 16/03/99 | H | Conf | Dover Athletic | Drew 2-2 | Heggs, Cooper | 2744 |
| Sat 20/03/99 | A | Conf | Morecambe | Won 3-2 | McElhatton, Rodwell, Cooper | 1099 |
| Tue 23/03/99 | A | Conf | Leek Town | Won 3-2 | Wooding, De Souza, Underwood | 809 |
| Sat 27/03/99 | A | Conf | Kettering Town | Drew 0-0 | – | 5039 |
| Sat 03/04/99 | H | Conf | Cheltenham Town | Lost 1-2 | De Souza | 6312 |
| Mon 05/04/99 | A | Conf | Woking | Drew 1-1 | Foster | 2808 |
| Sat 10/04/99 | H | HSCSFr | Cogenhoe Utd | Won 3-1 | De Souza/2, West | 1310 |
| Tue 13/04/99 | H | Conf | Yeovil Town | Lost 1-2 | West | 2367 |
| Sun 18/04/99 | A | HSCF | Raunds Town | Won 2-0 | West, De Souza | 823 |
| Tue 20/04/99 | H | Conf | Kingstonian | Drew 0-0 | – | 1818 |
| Sat 24/04/99 | A | Conf | Hereford Utd | Lost 2-3 | Collins, Cooper | 2044 |
| Mon 26/04/99 | H | Conf | Forest Grn Rvrs | Won 4-0 | Collins, Cooper, De Souza, Brady | 1626 |
| Sat 01/05/99 | H | Conf | Kettering Town | Lost 1-2 | McElhatton | 4700 |
Note – those games with a (P) in the scorers column will have match photos in the report, and those with a (V) will have a link to video highlights of the game.
Note 10: Match abandoned after 86 mins due to fire at adjacent chemical factory
rdfc1992 