Match Report

Diamonds were beaten 2-0 at Stratford Town on Tuesday night in a disappointing return to Southern League action.

Jordan Hines made his debut for Diamonds with Charlie Black on the bench but Diamonds were shocked by conceding a very early goal to a free header from a 2^nd minute corner. It took a while to get a hold of the game but late first half and early second half saw Diamonds play some good football. Jordan Hines had a snapshot on the turn go just wide and Connor Furlong saw a dangerous shot charged down but chances were limited.

Dean Snedker made a number of saves to keep Diamonds in the game but had no chance with Stratford’s decisive second goal on 67 minutes as a low driven cross was smashed home. Miguel Ngwa and Jack Connor came on as subs and both had half chances with Ngwa also nearly creating a tap in for Agemoh-Davies.

It wasn’t to be and Diamonds went down to a 5^th defeat in 7 league games leaving the first team bottom of the table on 2 points.

Next up is the visit to Barwell (4^th bottom on 6 points) on Saturday 24^th as this weekend is for FA Cup ties.

Match Summary: Paul Judd

Full report to follow…

Preview

Diamonds are due to return to action as they travel to face Stratford Town on Tuesday (13^th September), 7:45pm kick-off.

Admission prices are as follows:

Adults: £11

Concessions (over 65s / full-time students / NHS staff): £8

Youth ticket (16 – 17 years old): £5

Junior ticket (12 – 15 years old): £2

Under 12s: Free

There is also a £2 charge for matchday parking.

In line with FA guidelines, both sets of players will wear black armbands and there will be a minute’s silence in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Our hosts

They play at the Arden Garages Stadium (CV37 7BZ) and currently sit 10^th in the table after only losing one of their opening six league games. They have won two and drawn one of their home games so far, drawing 1-1 against Bedford Town before defeating Hednesford Town (1-0) and Bromsgrove Sporting (4-2).

The Bards are currently co-managed by Dean Holdsworth and Gavin Hurren, and they finished 13^th last season (W13 D8 L19 F48 A70).

To find out more about the club, visit their website here.

Last time out

Diamonds are looking to bounce back after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Enfield FC in a 2-1 loss and sitting bottom of the league. Stratford Town however made it through to the next round of the competition with a comfortable 4-0 success at Cleethorpes Town.

Meetings between the clubs

Diamonds and Stratford Town have faced each other on six occasions, with both sides emerging victorious on three occasions.

The full list of results between the two sides is:

Diamonds 2-0 Stratford (Dolman, Johnson) – Southern Premier Central, 19th February 2019

Stratford 1-0 Diamonds – Southern Premier Central, 9th March 2019

Stratford 3-1 Diamonds (OG) – Southern Premier Central, 24th August 2019

Diamonds 4-2 Stratford (Akubuine, Acquaye, Dolman, Farrell) – Southern Premier Central, 18th January 2020

Stratford 1-2 Diamonds (Shamsi, Hughes) – Southern Premier Central, 26th October 2021

Diamonds 1-3 Stratford (Tshikuna) – Southern Premier Central, 11th December 2021

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.