The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Gargan is a 6ft 3 target man.

We won 2-1. Tomlin got the second, and was the best player on the pitch by a distance. We played bloody well too.

Raz, your thoughts on Gargan and Howe?

Far, far better performance from the team. Tommo and his goals aside, I thought that the rest of the team played really well with a number of good performances.

Thought Rene Howe played really well tonight. Won the ball, has a good first touch and vision at times.

Sam Gargan didn't have enough of the ball and wasn't on long enough to cast any form of judgement.

Tomlin to West Brom?

If WBA don't have a serious look at Tomlin then the world has gone mad.

Downsie, i've said about Howe on the other thread, but in short he's exactly what we need. Gargan wasn't on long enough to judge.

What a difference a few days makes! It was a superb team performance tonight, Tommo will take the plaudits, and fully deserves to, but I thought everyone played really well. Dale made several great saves, Day continued to impress, Osano was infinitely better than against the franchise, Corky looked solid, Stuart was f**king imense - I lost count of the number of blocks he made. Spence had his best performance so far and covered every blade of grass, Porter was his usual consistent self, and Power looked fitter and controlled the game well from the holding role. Faz was probably the quietest player but still showed some good touches, Howe made a massive difference (although I would prefer to see him in the middle) and we MUST sign him if we can afford to. And then Tommo..... what can you say, he was amazing. The first goal was one of the best solo efforts I've ever seen at Nene Park, great pace, great strength, great skill and a finish that any player in the world would have been proud of. His second goal, in comparison, was quite ordinary although was still a great finish.

Oh no, I'm starting to get carried away with pre-season again! ;)

I'll echo what Dave said, it was a thoroughly entertaining game, between two passing teams. WBA had almost explosive pace down the flanks which we'll not come up against in the Conference. Corcoran had a great first half, but tended not to go too far forward in the second. Tomlin's first goal was an absolute delight. World class finish.
Rene Howe would be a great addition, even on loan. He has a real presence on the pitch something Smith hasn't found yet. As for Gargan, well he only got 5 minutes, he looked pacy but a tad wishywashy.

Just a pity that so few were there to see it. Roberts was solid in the sticks, with a couple of decent saves and Day looks like he's gunna be a candidate for the best left-back in the division. But like already said on here, Tommo was a class act and any scouts on view would have been impressed. Though Charles and Shariff also did well when introduced and hopefully Howe could be the number 7, we've been waiting for!