Lutterworth Athletic 2 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 6

AFC Rushden & Diamonds annual pre season visit to Lutterworth Athletic continued tonight on a usual balmy summers evening.

Manager Andy Peaks named a strong line up with Greg Ling starting at left back, Rhys Redding starting in goal and Fazel Koriya starting up front with Matt Gearing restored to the wing.

Diamonds immediately started on the front foot as Gearing crossed for Koriya to head just wide, closely followed by Dunkley squaring the ball on the edge of the area to Adam Confue who skewed his shot wide.

After 22 minutes great work from McBride set Lamb-Johnson free on the right, he crossed from the byline, only for Dunkley to connect just wide.The deadlock was broken on 23 minutes when the lively Fazel Koriya headed onto the post and then bundled the rebound home.

Three minutes later a trademark Matt Gearing corner was expertly met by Arron Parkinson which left the goalkeeper with no chance. With 30 minutes on the clock Lutterworth pulled a goal back when a deflected shot flew past Redding into the bottom corner.

Half-Time: Lutterworth Athletic 1 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 2

With no substitutions at half time, both teams struggled to settle into a rhythm for ten minutes until the ball broke for Adam Confue on the edge of the area, his fiercely struck drive was just over the bar.

Lutterworth substitute goalkeeper cleared the ball straight to Russ Dunkley on 58 minutes and he perfectly lobbed him to restore the two goal lead. A period of Lutterworth pressure brought two excellent point blank saves from debutant keeper Redding.

After 66 minutes Elliot Lamb-Johnson cut back from the byline and floated a cross come shot over the keeper which nestled into the back of the net. Four minutes later some great work from Fazel Koriya resulted in the defender pulling his shirt and the referee awarded a penalty. Matt Gearing saw his spot kick well saved by the goalkeeper who redeemed his earlier mistake.

Against the run of play the Lutterworth attack burst through the Diamonds defence and blasted the ball past Redding to bring the score to 2-4. A series of substitutions resulted in a stop-start period until on 90 minutes when Jason Turner picked up a poor pass from the Lutterworth Goalkeeper and fired into an empty net.

With the last kick of the game, having played 4 minutes of added time, Jason Turner cut inside from the edge of the area and placed a fantastic shot into the top corner.

Full-Time: Lutterworth Athletic 2 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 6

Diamonds Man of the Match: Arron Parkinson

Attendance: Approx 100