Season 2008-09

For the 2008/09 season, Garry Hill was given a budget to make 10 pre-season signings which included Daryl Clare and Rob Wolleaston, with Curtis Osano joining the club on a permanent basis after spending the previous season on loan from Reading. Victory over Peterborough United in the Maunsell Cup Final was the fourth occasion the Diamonds had won the senior Northamptonshire FA competition. The season got off to a good start, with the first four games unbeaten, including a draw at local rivals Kettering Town.

However, the season quickly tailed off, and saw the Diamonds go out of the FA Cup at Evesham United in the fourth qualifying round. Garry Hill resigned as manager of the club on 10th February 2009, and was replaced by Justin Edinburgh as caretaker-manager. Edinburgh’s first game in charge was in the club record 9-0 victory over Weymouth at the Wessex Stadium on 21st February 2009. That was followed by the Diamonds maintaining their excellent record over local rivals Kettering Town with a 1-0 victory at Nene Park.

Edinburgh was then awarded a permanent contract just prior to the final game of the 2008-09 season. That final game saw the Diamonds complete the campaign in 11th position in the Blue Square Premier.

The game at home to Wrexham on 19th August 2008 was the 900th 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.

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 7: Played at Nene Park

Note 8: Won 5-3 pens – Rankine / Corcoran / Phillips / Smith / Woodhouse