Diamonds host National League North side Brackley Town in their penultimate pre-season match of 2022/23.
Admission prices are as follows:
Adults: £9
Concessions: £6
Under 18s: £2
Tickets can be purchased in advance here or you can pay on-the-gate.
Our visitors
They play at St James Park and currently ply their trade one level above the Diamonds. The Saints finished 2nd in the 2021/22 season in the 22-team division but were beaten 0-1 in the play-off semi-finals by York City who eventually gained promotion to the National League.
Their manager is Kevin Wilkin. To find out more about the club, visit their website.
Pre-season so far
Diamonds have played seven pre-season friendlies so far, with an opening draw at Kempston (3-3) being followed by defeats to MK Dons (0-4), Stamford (5-3) and Loughborough Students (1-4). Since then Rushden have progressed to the next round of the NFA Hillier Cup after defeating Cogenhoe on penalties following a 1-1 draw, another 1-1 draw was played out in a behind-closed-doors match against a Northampton Town XI before a 3-0 victory at Daventry on Saturday.
Brackley have played three pre-season games so far. The first resulted in a 1-1 draw at home to last season’s National League beaten play-off finalists Solihull Moors, and they then defeated League One Burton Albion in a 2-1 success. They most recently drew 1-1 at fellow National League North side Oxford City.
Meetings between the clubs
Diamonds and Brackley have faced each other on eight occasions, with Diamonds having emerged victorious only once (W1 D3 L4) in the clashes so far.
The full list of results between the two sides is:
Diamonds 1-1 Brackley (Koriya) – Pre-season friendly, 20th July 2013
Diamonds 3-4 Brackley (Turner, Harris, Joseph) – NFA Hillier Senior Cup, 4th November 2014
Diamonds 2-1 Brackley (Lorraine, Stevenson) – NFA Hillier Senior Cup Semi-Final, 2nd February 2016
Brackley 2-2 Diamonds (Fairlamb, Henbury) – Pre-season friendly, 25th July 2017
Diamonds 0-1 Brackley – Pre-season friendly, 24th July 2018
Diamonds 0-0 Brackley (Diamonds lost 2-4 on penalties but were subsequently awarded the title) – NFA Hillier Senior Cup Final, 2nd April 2019
Diamonds 0-2 Brackley – NFA Hillier Senior Cup Quarter-Final, 19th November 2019
Brackley 2-0 Diamonds – Pre-season friendly, 15th September 2020
Can’t make the game?
Our Radio Diamonds team will be providing live commentary as the action unfolds – tune in at mixlr.com/radiodiamondsafc. Listeners will be able to message with their comments and thoughts on 07394 309591.
We will also doing live updates on our Twitter account at twitter.com/AFCRD. Highlights and interviews will be available after the game at youtube.com/AFCRDTV.
Match preview: Ollie Mortimer
