Match Report

Diamonds beat high-flying Nuneaton Borough 2-1 at Hayden Road on Tuesday night with an excellent all-round performance that delighted the home crowd.

A competitive first half saw the game level with Nuneaton shading possession but hard working Diamonds having the better half-chances. The second half burst into life with two Diamonds goals inside 6 minutes. Ryan Hughes headed home from a corner on 47 minutes and Jenson Cooper pounced on a goalkeeping error to slot home coolly on 51 minutes. Nuneaton pulled one back on 61 minutes and looked odds on to make their quality count but Diamonds defended superbly and continued to break and attack their illustrious opposition. The final 20 minutes was agony for Diamonds fans with the home side riding their luck but Diamonds held on for a vital win.

Caretaker manager Richard Maxwell made one change to his line-up with Hamilton Bunga coming in to replace Jesse Akubuine. It allowed Diamonds to line-up with three centre-halves – Man of the Match Bunga, Dante Grey and Ryan Hughes. Luis Pinto-Leite and Charlie Black played wing-back positions with Nathan Hicks, Fraser Corden and Connor Tee in a midfield three with Jenson Cooper and Miguel Ngwa up front.

After a bright Nuneaton start Diamonds had the first chance and it was a good one. Jenson Cooper burst clear into the right of the box but couldn’t control his effort back across the keeper from 15 yards. Prince Mancinelli then had a rasping effort from 25 yards for Nuneaton go just wide.

The away side shaded possession and moved the ball well but got little change from a well organised and hardworking Diamonds defence. Ryan Hughes headed away one dangerous free-kick at full stretch.

Diamonds weren’t getting in behind Nuneaton as they has done against Tamworth but were probing around the box and created a number of good shooting chances – for Nathan Hicks, Charlie Black and most notably Luis Pinto-Leite who forced a slightly fumbled save from the away keeper Tony Breedon.

Half-time: Diamonds 0 Nuneaton Borough 0

The second half got off to a flying start for Diamonds. Miguel Ngwa ran at Nuneaton and won a left wing corner. Connor Tee fired it in and Ryan Hughes headed home. The Peter De Banke erupted and the Radio Diamonds team nearly lost the plot!!

Incredibly it got better for Diamonds just 4 minutes later as Ngwa closed down Breedon forcing a rushed pass across his box. Jenson Cooper pounced but he still had plenty to do to hit a bouncing ball first time into the empty net beating the hastily retreating Breedon.

Nuneaton were stunned into a reaction and pushed more and more players forward as they tried to retrieve the game. As the 60 minute mark approached they had a series of corners and finally scored from one. Matthew Stenson rose highest to head firmly home.

It looked like Diamonds might be in trouble at this point but they knuckled down to some hard defending all be it last ditch at times. Luke Benbow saw an effort blocked from inside the box and Dean Snedker parried the follow-up.

Diamonds were determined to keep pressing Nuneaton when they could with Miguel Ngwa shooting well at the end of one run and Fraser Corden, Jenson Cooper and Nathan Hicks breaking the length of the field to see a shot blocked for a corner.

Jenson Cooper then came close to spectacular 3^rd for Diamonds with a driven lob from near half-way that a retreating Tony Breedon pushed onto the bar before claiming.

Nuneaton piled forward in the last 15 minutes and threw everything at Diamonds. They did miss a number of chances as Diamonds rode their luck but by pressuring the ball as much as they could good chances were made that bit more difficult but it was such a relief to see the ball go wide or over the bar and not nestle in the bottom corner..

Impressive 2^nd half substitute debutant Kartell Dawkins relived the pressure on 90 minutes by breaking well after a missed chance from Nuneaton and coming close to clinching it.

The final Nuneaton chance was a flicked header from a corner that went just over and the final whistle was greeted with relief and jubilation around most of Hayden Road.

Full-time: Diamonds 2 Nuneaton 1

Diamonds certainly rode their luck particularly in the final stages but the feeling around the ground was that they earned that luck by their performance and commitment to the cause and deserved that first home win of the season.

The win took Diamonds off the bottom of the league and within range of the places outside the relegation zone and should give them and the fans confidence that they can compete at this level.

Next-up another high flying side in Redditch United will visit Hayden Road on Saturday afternoon.

Match Report: Paul Judd

Preview

Diamonds entertain second-placed Nuneaton Borough on Tuesday (11^th October, 7:45pm kick-off) as they look to pick up their first home win of the campaign.

Admission prices are as follows:

Adults: £11

Concessions: £8

Students: £8

Under 21s: £6

Under 16s: £2

Tickets can be purchased in advance here, or you can pay at the turnstile.

Our visitors

There has been a team in existence in Nuneaton in one form or another since 1889 but they have experienced being disbanded in 1937 and liquidated in 1991 and 2008 under various names. George Best famously played for them in a 1983 friendly and an incredible 22,114 crammed into former ground Manor Park for an FA Cup 3^rd round tie against Rotherham United in 1967.

The current incarnation fought back from demotion to the Southern League Division One on their creation in 2008 to Conference Premier in 2012. They were relegated from the National League North in 2018/2019 and went into the Southern League Central where they were handily placed in 9^th when that season was aborted.

They now play at Liberty Way, and the Boro are currently managed by Jimmy Ginnelly. They finished 16^th in the league last season (W11 D10 L19 F51 A62).

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

Last time out

Diamonds lost 0-4 at home to table-toppers Tamworth in the Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying, which was their first game since Andy Burgess’ departure and saw Richard Maxwell take charge of the side.

Nuneaton defeated Hinckley Leicester Road 2-0 at Liberty Way to advance to the next round.

The season so far

Nuneaton currently sit 2^nd in the Southern League Premier Central table after winning seven, drawing two and losing one. That sole defeat came on the opening day of the season meaning they are unbeaten in nine league games since, though they were comprehensively beaten 4-0 at Alvechurch in the Emirates FA Cup Third Round Qualifying at the start of October.

Diamonds currently sit bottom of the league having lost six of their last seven matches in all competitions.

Meetings between the clubs

Diamonds were unbeaten in three league contests against Nuneaton across the last two seasons until a devastating 0-1 home loss on the final day of last season saw them miss out on the play-offs by goal difference.

In 2019/2020 Diamonds won 2-0 at Hayden Road to make it three wins from three at the start of the season, with Massiah Mcdonald and Sam Johnson the scorers. The return game in January was won in dramatic fashion at Liberty Way with a coolly-converted 89th minute penalty by Ben Farrell.

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.