Rushden & Diamonds
2
Kelly 1 Watson 41 (pen) | Nationwide Conference
Nene Park Saturday 4th November 2006
| Dagenham & Redbridge 3
Mackail-Smith 6 Benson 10 Mackail-Smith 45 |
Report The Daggers returned to their league campaign this week with a visit to the possibly the best ground in the conference - and definitely the most expensive! Nene Park was the venue and Rushden & Diamonds were the opposition. There was a good travelling support sat in the expanse of seating behind one goal for the Daggers - it's called the AirWair stand - a throwback to when they had some money from the Doc Martens empire.
This match started somewhat briskly with Rushden instantly putting the Daggers on the back foot and winning a corner within 30 seconds of the whistle, a good cross found Marcus Kelly in a good position on the edge of the six yard box and he duly headed the ball home to give the home side a 1-0 advantage on 53 seconds.
The response from the Daggers was to run - fast and in numbers - at what appeared to be a fairly weak Rushden defence. A Southam volley was the first real chance on the Rushden goal and although this was blocked well by a defender it signalled the obvious Daggers intent. A minute later and another Daggers attack leading to another volley - this time CMS clinically finishing his chance to draw the Daggers level with just six minutes played.
The Daggers continued to pressure from the restart and it was only some vital blocking from the defence that prevented the score being greater in the first ten minutes, that resistance eventually(!!!) proving useless as CMS was again involved slipping the ball through to Benson who managed to deceive the defence and goalkeeper with a bizarre mix of mis-control and keepy-uppy to round the keeper and make the score 2-1 on 11 minutes.
The early game buzz then made way for the usual bouts of headers and volleys played between the defence and despite some enterprising play for Rushden the ever-steady Blackett and Anwar held strong and rarely did the ball get round the back for the Rushden front men to chase.
Then there was a very strange moment where the referee managed to convince himself that despite being in no position to see the incident, the Rushden fans were an honest bunch and that if they say penalty it must be. A shot from the right hand side of the Daggers area hitting Benson at possibly 3 yards away was adjudged handball and the penalty was well taken by Paul Watson to once again make the scores level - 2-2 after 40 minutes.
The Daggers have become more resilient this year however, and it was another instant response that gave the Daggers the lead for the second time in the half. A corner from the impressive Sam Sloma found CMS in the box and he headed well to give the Daggers a 3-2 lead with just moments left in the first half.
If the first half was sizzling then the second half was the second was certainly more simmering. Occasional chances on the break for the Daggers never really followed through to great scoring opportunities - with the exceptions of a Benno run from the right flank resulting in a shot that ended up high and wide, and a CMS shot from around 10 yards that was fantastically stopped by Eyre in the Rushden goal (even ex-Grays keepers can make one save a match)! The majority of the half was spent soaking up pressure from an improved Rushden unit. The ball frequently being played through the midfield with a little too much ease as the likes of Saunders, Southam and Sloma appeared to tire after their excellent exertions of the first half. Robbo was called on to make a few brave claims and two excellent saves - one from Simeon Jackson and another from Lee Tomlin. Both these players had a very good second half and caused the Daggers a few problems with their movement but fortunately they brought their running spikes rather than football boots it appeared as the majority of their shooting was less than impressive.
Not the most convincing Daggers display of the season so far but once again we have gone away and come back with three points where many of the other play-off hopefuls may get nothing more than a stale burger and an empty wallet! Upminster Daggers Man of the Match: Shane Blackett
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Teams Rushden & Diamonds: Eyre, Wilson, Hope, Hatswell, Watson, Berry, Savage, Ben Sedgemore (Shaw 81), Kelly (Chillingworth 85), Tomlin, Jackson.
Subs Not Used: Tynan, Fortune-West, Grainger.
Booked: Ben Sedgemore, Kelly, Tomlin.
Dag & Red: Roberts, Foster , Blackett, Uddin, Griffiths, Saunders (Akurang 87), Southam, Rainford, Sloma, Mackail-Smith, Benson.
Subs Not Used: Hogan, Cole, Lettejallow, Bruce.
Booked: Southam.
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