The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

LincolnshireDiamond wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 9:40 am What a fantastic result tonight, the first half was very poor from us but we came out so much better the 2nd half.

Sure cards change games but against 10 men can be very difficult to break a team down but we managed to make light work of them.

Their manager interview certainly a shock, apparently he was punched by someone from our bench and their goalkeeper was slapped by a fan during the game.
Sad to hear if that is all true.

I didn't see what happened on the bench so can't comment on that, but the goalkeeper was absolutely 100% not slapped by a supporter. One of our fans did give him a 'sympathetic' tap on the shoulder after one of the goals, but it was in no way violent/aggressive. It is beyond pathetic if they end up making a fuss over that.

TheIncognitoKid wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 11:51 am Really was a tale of 2 halves, as we were very fortunate to not be 3 or 4 down by half time. Was a bit concerned when the team appeared second half with no changes, but after the 2 reds we literally dominated the game and recorded an emphatic victory. But with all the makes of a strange game, the most surprising thing was the state of the playing surface. After 2 days of heavy rain, it was actually looking in one of the best conditions I've ever seen it! Well done the ground staff!

By our newly formed volunteer pitch working group, no less!

Can't guarantee it'll look like that every week but if anyone is interested in getting involved with the team looking after the pitch - give me a shout! No experience necessary, just a bit of free time.

davealbon wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 2:43 pm

LincolnshireDiamond wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 9:40 am What a fantastic result tonight, the first half was very poor from us but we came out so much better the 2nd half.

Sure cards change games but against 10 men can be very difficult to break a team down but we managed to make light work of them.

Their manager interview certainly a shock, apparently he was punched by someone from our bench and their goalkeeper was slapped by a fan during the game.
Sad to hear if that is all true.

I didn't see what happened on the bench so can't comment on that, but the goalkeeper was absolutely 100% not slapped by a supporter. One of our fans did give him a 'sympathetic' tap on the shoulder after one of the goals, but it was in no way violent/aggressive. It is beyond pathetic if they end up making a fuss over that.

A tap on the shoulder lol. The manager making it sound like the keeper was assaulted.
I also hope the punch he has accused the bench of isn't true but in the melee it was hard to tell what was going on.

Regarding the touchline scuffle whilst not seeing very well what happened I could see the linesman standing right in front watching and he then relayed that to the referee. Based on a red card for one of their staff I don’t think too much happened from our side.

Back to the game. I thought we were poor first half and the goal was an awful one to give away. Heath needs to be doing better with balls into the 6 yard box. Grantham were good for the first 15 minutes but after that we came bs k into it slightly without creating anything significant. Second half was a different matter and even though they went down to 10 men we still found plenty of opportunities. Can be very difficult against 10 but we found a way quite comfortably. Once they went down to 9 we could have had more every time we went forward. What matters is we picked up the 3 points and sit nicely outside the playoffs. Not getting ahead of ourselves as there are some very decent teams below us with games in hand but it’s a nice position to be in. Makes it easier to recruit players when you are up that end of the table!

Olly wrote: Sun Sep 22, 2024 8:38 am Chances of this one going ahead? I'm guessing pretty much 0 with so much rain fallen and to fall...

Shows how much I know, the pitch looked really good!

Think we would have still won that even without the 1/2 man advantage, the way we came out in the second half and played some good football was excellent, but ultimately Grantham only have themselves to blame for the end result, what a bunch of thugs and thank god the ref acted accordingly against their reckless fouls. Such an entertaining evening, captain's goal was sensational, we put them to the sword when we had the advantage and positive GD now as well!

To be just outside the top 5 at the end of September is fantastic and more than I expected, do I think we're going to put in a genuine promotion challenge this season? Not so sure, especially considering how we were outplayed by Anstey, but already plenty of points on the board, 7 points clear of the bottom 4 as well, so looking very promising at the moment!

Football Web Pages has a handy 'table by date' feature - so to answer Pigmans Question - 30th January was when we had this many points last season.

That feels a really long way away to me.

https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/nort ... e/20240130

fentiger79 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 3:27 pm Regarding the touchline scuffle whilst not seeing very well what happened I could see the linesman standing right in front watching and he then relayed that to the referee. Based on a red card for one of their staff I don’t think too much happened from our side.

Obviously not there but watched the interview and Mr Bland their manager sounded a little Mr Boring. Apparently it’s easy to score against 10! Well that’s a statement which has been proven wrong so many times over the years. Possibly his lack of ability as a manager to set his 10 men up, Can someone send him the recording of that Wisbech game all those years ago
He basically came across as someone who’d had a bad night, been let down by his players and was looking for someone to blame, a mirror could be the answer.

Agreed, one of the worst interviews I have seen.

I know several teams have played less games than us but after the shortage of goals in the past two seasons it's good to see only Walsall Wood have scored more than us