Diamonds shook off a disappointing weekend result in style as they earned an emphatic 5-0 win over Barton Rovers at Hayden Road on Tuesday night. Midfielder Ben Farrell bagged two goals in the first half; the second coming immediately after a Liam Dolman free kick had made it 2-0. Nabil Shariff and an own goal in the second half sealed a dominant victory for the Diamonds.
The starting line-up saw four changes from the weekend. Cameron Gilchrist, Ben Ford, Darryl Smith and Tom Lorraine all started the game, meanwhile new signing John Dean started on the bench with young goalkeeper Kyle Swailes. Sam Brown, Claudiu Hoban and Callum Westwood were all absent from the squad.
Diamonds started the game in explosive fashion, opening the scoring after just 11 minutes. A Joel Gyasi corner from the left found Shariff in the area whose header was cleared as far as Farrell on the edge of the area to lash a first time shot into the corner of the net.
On 20 minutes, Dolman attempted an outrageous 40 yard free kick, trying to catch the goal keeper off guard but his effort went just over.
The centre back hit the target three minutes later, however, after Diamonds won a free kick just outside the left corner of the Barton box. Ford laid the ball off for Dolman to rifle towards goal, and despite not quite being in the corner, the strike was too powerful as Harpur tried to keep the shot out.
The third goal came back-to-back with the second; and mere moments after the restart, Gyasi passed into Lorraine who took on his man down the right before laying a pass across the box where Shariff dummied to allow Farrell in for a simple finish.
The midfielder seemed in a goal scoring mood, and was hungry for a hat trick, firing two more shots over in the first half.
Tom Lorraine had a couple of chances too. Firstly, a Bunting cross from the left found the striker with a free header but he couldn’t find a target. Then moments later he got on the end of a through ball past the defence but an onrushing Harpur saved the first time shot and the ball bounced clear for a corner.
Half-time: AFC Rushden & Diamonds 3 Barton Rovers 0
The second half continued in the same vein as the first half, and just four minutes in the Diamonds were inches away from a fourth. Gyasi crossed from the right to Lorraine in acres of space to hit the ball first time but it crashed off the underside of the crossbar and Barton managed to clear.
Just after the hour mark, the woodwork saved Barton again. Shariff crossed in from the left to find Ford in the box to chest the ball down and volley on the bounce which smashed the near post and off the keeper before being cleared.
On the 67th minute, Diamonds hit the woodwork once again. A long cross field ball from Farrell found Gyasi on the right who cut inside before shooting with his left foot onto the near post to complete a second half woodwork hat trick.
Barton had their first shot on goal on 69 minutes. Andrew Phillips got on the end of a long ball over the top into the Diamonds half, and after taking on Dolman on the corner of the area he fired a shot towards the near post for Heath to save for a corner.
Not even the woodwork could deny Shariff from netting his first goal in the league in eight games on the 77th minute. Ben Ford’s corner from the right missed everyone who jumped at the near post but Shariff managed to react well to send a standing header past Harpur.
Diamonds extended their lead with eight minutes remaining. Smith played in debutant Dean down the left and into the area before cutting back to fire across the 6 yard line towards Tom Lorraine but Barton substitute Jack Keating slid in to send the ball in off the bar past his own keeper.
In the dying moments, Ford had a free kick from a tight angle touched over by the keeper. The resulting corner from Gyasi was met by the head of Dolman attacking the near post but his header hit the side netting.
Full-time: AFC Rushden & Diamonds 5 Barton Rovers 0
The victory sends Diamonds up to fifth in the table as the club enjoy an 11 day break before the visit of the league leaders Moneyfields to Hayden Road on November 4.
Diamonds Man of the Match: Ben Farrell
Attendance: 355
Match Report by Adam Benney
AFC Rushden & Diamonds | Barton Rovers |
13. Ben Heath 2. Cameron Gilchrist 3. Ben Ford 4. Blaize Punter 5. Liam Dolman 6. Ben Farrell 7. Joel Gyasi 8. Richard Bunting (c) 9. Tom Lorraine 10. Nabil Shariff 11. Darryl Smith
Subs 12. Luke Fairlamb 14. John Dean (on for Shariff, 80) 15. Joe Curtis (on for Farrell, 83) 16. Fernando Bell-Toxtle (on for Bunting, 83) 17. Kyle Swailes | 1. Adam Harpur 2. Gerardo Smaldone 3. Tom Reverell 4. David Longe-King 5. Paul Andrews (c) 6. George Quarrington-Carter 7. Andrew Phillips 8. Jamie Nichols 9. Alex Cathline 10. Danny Watson 11. Brandon Carney
Subs 12. Charlie Payne 14. Kieran Cathline 15. Dan Newton (on for Quarrington-Carter, 70) 16. Billy Lannon (on for Carney, 80) 17. Jack Keating (on for Longe-King, 58)
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Goals: Farrell (11 & 24), Dolman (23), Shariff (77), Own Goal (82) | Goals: |
Yellow cards: | Yellow cards: |
Red cards: | Red cards: |
Referee: Mr Robert Hathaway Assistants: Mr Peter Crowe Mr George Enever |
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| Diamonds | Barton |
Shots on target | 7 | 1 |
Shots off target | 12 | 1 |
Corners | 8 | 5 |
Offsides | 2 | 4 |
Fouls | 9 | 6 |
Yellow cards | 0 | 0 |
Red cards | 0 | 0 |
