AFC Rushden & Diamonds 3 Long Buckby 1

AFC Rushden & Diamonds secured promotion from the United Counties Premier League with a 3-1 victory over already relegated Long Buckby on Monday afternoon.  

On a perfectly sunny Bank Holiday afternoon, both teams cancelled each other out for large swathes of the opening period, with Declan Rogers’ curling free kick to open the scoring for the hosts quickly cancelled out by a Buckby equaliser following a defensive mistake. Diamonds looked more and more dangerous as the game wore on, and after Scott Joseph flicked in a Sam Brown long throw for a 2-1 lead in the second half, it was left to Matt Gearing to head home at the far post to put the final seal on promotion and commence the celebrations in earnest.

Manager Andy Peaks, knowing that a draw or better would confirm the Diamonds’ passage to Step 4 of non-league football next season, made four changes to the side that defeated Wisbech Town in the UCL KO Cup on Tuesday evening. With Brad Harris unavailable and Adam Confue still missing through injury, Tom Lorraine moved in the centre of midfield, with Tommy Berwick partnering Scott Joseph up front. There were also starts for Charlie Butt, Jack Ashton and Declan Rogers in place of Joe Merrill, Darren Purse and Elliot Lamb-Johnson, with Merrill and Lamb-Johnson taking a place amongst the substitutes. 

There was a strong sense of anticipation and buzz in the air around the Dog & Duck as the game kicked off, with Diamonds still knowing they had a positive result to secure despite Buckby’s confirmed relegation last weekend. The home side almost got off to the perfect start in the fifth minute after a free kick was played into Tommy Berwick, and after he twisted past a defender on the right side of the penalty box his deflected cross found Tom Lorraine arriving at the near post, but his header was well saved by Buckby keeper Oliver Manuel and eventually cleared to safety. 

Aside from that opening, the early stages were scrappy and keenly contested, with the visitors looking energetic and effervescent whenever they picked up possession in the Diamonds half. One such instance led to the ball falling to Buckby winger Gareth Mzungwana from a goal kick, but his shot after cutting in from the right was tame and easy for Matt Finlay to collect.

They went much closer to the opening goal of the contest in the 20th minute when a neat passing exchange in midfield saw the ball slipped in behind Sam Brown for Ed Kostiuk to run onto. Thankfully for the home side, the pass was slightly overhit and as Finlay narrowed the angle for the Buckby number 10, his attempted ball across goal was cleared behind by the recovering Brown. Kostiuk was involved again two minutes later when determined play by striker Muziwandile Ndlovu-Nduna saw him dip inside Liam Dolman on the left-side, and his pull-back found Kostiuk to drive a shot straight at Finlay from 20 yards out.

Rushden were struggling to find a consistent rhythm and tempo to their play, with the visitors’ pressing and harassing in areas high up the pitch forcing them into mistakes. However, with 102 league goals to the Diamonds’ name this season, the threat going forward has always been clear to see, and this was nearly exemplified in the 25th minute. Richard Bunting played a sweeping pass out to the advancing Charlie Butt, he played it down the line to Berwick, and the Diamonds striker cut inside to generate some space for himself. His dinked cross in reached Brown, and the subsequent header down to Scott Joseph saw his shot blocked away from 12 yards out straight to Declan Rogers lurking with intent, but a heroic block by Buckby’s Ashley Knights stopped the goalbound effort. 

A Long Buckby free kick from the halfway line caused trouble in the Diamonds defence moments later, and as Jack Ashton and Ndlovu-Nduna challenged for the ball, it dropped for the Buckby striker to hook a shot over the bar despite him appearing to have time and space to bring the ball down under his control. 

Rushden punished this missed opportunity by taking the lead two minutes after on the half-hour mark. A handball 25 yards out from the visitors’ goal gave the home side a free kick in a dangerous position, and with the offence being committed slightly right of centre, it appeared to favour a left-footed strike. And so it proved. Winger Declan Rogers stepped up and curled a delightful effort past Manuel into the top right corner, with the Buckby stopper powerless to stop it due to the accuracy of the strike. 

The goal helped to remove any nerves that may have been present amongst the Diamonds players before the goal, and they created another good opportunity shortly afterwards. Rogers again was at the heart of the move as he picked up the ball in midfield and ran at the away side’s defence, and his pass across to the right found Matt Gearing who hit the ball on the run, with Manuel producing a sprawling save to his right side to prevent a further addition to the scoreline. 

And in their next foray forward, Long Buckby grabbed an equaliser. A long ball over the top saw Ashton and Ndlovu-Nduna again tussling for the ball, and as it ran closer towards the Diamonds goal, both Finlay and Ashton hesitated in a moment of indecision as they both waited for each other to deal with the danger. This allowed the ever-dangerous Buckby striker to get a shot off, and despite Finlay making a good initial point-blank save, he could not stop the loose ball being converted by Ricky Barby into an empty net. 

This seemed to act as a wake-up call for Peaks’ side, and they created a number of opportunities before the half time whistle. Firstly, a slick passing move involving Rogers and Brown saw the fullback slot a ball into the path of Joseph, and his shot was collected at the second attempt by the Buckby stopper at his near post. Then Berwick saw a shot deflected behind for a Diamonds corner, with the subsequent delivery by Rogers being flicked on by Ashton into the six yard box, but the ball was somehow smuggled to safety under the close attentions of Lorraine and Joseph.

One final chance of the half in added-on time saw Bunting pick up possession and play a pass into Joseph. He in turn released Brown down the left who had run beyond Mzungwana and his dangerous cross across the face of goal was slid wide of the mark by a stretching Gearing. Referee Paul Mihalache blew the whistle for half-time immediately after, with Diamonds knowing they needed to show more of the play and danger that had been evident in the final 10 minutes of the half. 

Half Time: AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1-1 Long Buckby AFC

The sun was still bathing the Dog & Duck surface in a lovely light as the second half got underway, with the home side attempting to impose an increased tempo and dominance over the fixture.

However, the first 15 minutes of the second period were almost completely devoid of any goalmouth action or incident. Ashton looped a header over the bar as a Rogers inswinging cross found him leaping at the back post, and Mzungwana sent a bobbling effort straight at Finlay down the other end from outside the area, but both teams were guilty of giving the ball away in good areas after neat approach play at this stage of the game. 

Declan Rogers had looked lively and dangerous on his return to the starting 11, and he very nearly had his 8th goal of the season to celebrate in the 60th minute. After receiving the ball from Joseph, Gearing advanced up the right wing and forced visiting fullback Stefan Jones into committing a foul as he attempted to skip past the Buckby man. In an almost identical position to the free-kick that produced the first Diamonds goal, Rogers again took responsibility and whipped the ball goalwards, with the effort dropping millimetres over the crossbar.

As the clock ticked close to the 70^th minute, there were audible groans of dismay and annoyance from some sections of the crowd as more and more attacks were rebuffed by the Buckby backline, but the Diamonds persistence paid eventual dividends in the 68^th minute. Berwick tricked his way down the left flank and tried to push to the byline, but a visiting defender was able to clear the ball out for a throw-in around 15 yards in from the corner flag. Brown wound up an archetypal launch into the penalty area, and the ball was flicked on for an unmarked Scott Joseph to power an effort beyond Manuel into the roof of the net from six yards out.

Rogers was then tripped in the middle of the pitch as Diamonds began to find gaps opening up between the visitors’ defence and midfield, and Gearing delivered a tantalising ball which almost found Ashton creeping in at the back post, but he was unable to make sufficient contact on the ball and it ran harmlessly out for a goal kick. Jason Turner entered the fray in place of Berwick for the hosts soon after.

Although forward Ndlovu-Nduna continued to prove a menace for the away side with his first touch and direct running, Buckby were only able to muster a couple of long range efforts that were comfortable for Finlay to deal with in the entirety of the second half. Diamonds, as a result, were able to gain more territory and put more pressure upon their relegated opponents as the game entered the final five minutes, and the icing on the promotion cake arrived four minutes from time. Brown worked himself into a good position on the left side, and his ball back to Turner was worked to Bunting on the edge of the box. The Diamonds captain had plenty of time to pick out a teasing curling cross for Matt Gearing to leap and power a header into the far corner of the goal to seal the victory and promotion likewise.

The last few minutes were played out uneventfully before the end of the game was signalled, and with the sun still hanging high in the Wellingborough sky, it was a picturesque scene as the Diamonds players made their way off the pitch to loud cheers and applause for their efforts throughout the promotion push.

Full Time: AFC Rushden & Diamonds 3-1 Long Buckby AFC

Despite a slightly below-par performance from the Diamonds, the main aim in securing the result to seal promotion was achieved, and every single player who has contributed to this success can be proud and happy of the part that they have played in ‘Project Promotion’. They now sit nine points clear of Wisbech and Thurnby at the top of the table with four games left to play, and a Diamonds win on Saturday over Wellingborough, coupled with Thurnby and Wisbech both dropping points, would see Rushden claim the UCL Premier title. Celebrations will rightfully last for a long time at such a grand achievement, but thoughts will soon turn to the game this coming Saturday against their Dog & Duck landlords (which has been declared as a ‘Pay What You Want’ game) as Andy Peaks’ team look to move a step closer to a league and cup double.

Diamonds Man of the Match chosen by Match Sponsor Jade of Wollaston: Scott Joseph

Attendance: 696

Match Report by Ollie Mortimer

 Updated player profiles with appearance and goalscoring details are now available.

Match Gallery courtesy of Malcolm Swinden Photography (click on the link to access the Diamonds Photo Gallery for more images from this game and ecommerce options). Copyright Mal Swinden ©2015