Match Report

Diamonds fought back to claim a draw against ten-man Bromsgrove Sporting following a frantic second half.

The visitors, who had lost five consecutive games before this clash, forged ahead in the sixth minute. A loose ball was played to Ryan Edmunds who steered a first-time strike inside the far post. Michael Taylor almost doubled the lead only to be denied by a goal-saving block, before Dan Sweeney and Taylor were thwarted by two crucial Dean Snedker saves.

Home striker Andy Kanga had a goal ruled out for offside, but they were handed a match-turning boost early in the second half when Bromsgrove defender Kieran Dawes was shown a second yellow card for a foul. Rushden levelled soon afterwards in dramatic circumstances when defender Evangelos Empochontsif swept a close-range effort past the keeper. There were strong appeals from the away side that it hadn’t crossed the line but, following consultation with the assistant referee, the goal was awarded.

The visitors picked up seven yellow cards in total and began to drop deeper, with the hosts laying siege to their goal in search of a late winner. The dangerous Miguel Ngwa fired narrowly over and substitute Jenson Cooper drifted a free header wide in stoppage-time, but Diamonds had to settle for a point as they moved off the foot of the table.

Full match report to follow…

Preview

Re-arranged from 18^th October 2022; originally re-arranged from 10^th September 2022.

Diamonds have a home match against Bromsgrove Sporting on Saturday, 29th October (3:00 pm kick-off).

Admission prices are as follows:

Adults: £11

Over 60 concessions: £8

Under 21 (aged 17-21): £8

Students: £8

Under 16 (aged 9-16): £2

Under 8: Free (accompanied by a paying adult/over 60 concession)

Our hosts

A club born out of Bromsgrove Rovers, Sporting started life in the Midland Combination Division Two and have worked their way back up to Step 3. The Rouslers play at The Victoria Ground and narrowly avoided the drop last year, finishing 18th.

Meetings between the clubs

The first game between the sides was a chastening experience for Diamonds with the Rouslers running out incredible 8-2 winners at Hayden Road. It was an even game when Diamonds equalised at 2-2 on 39 minutes but a third for a dominant Bromsgrove and two sendings off either side of half-time killed Diamonds chances. Nine man Diamonds battled to be just 4-2 down by the 82nd minute but a tiring, dispirited Diamonds conceded four goals in a horrendous last 10 minutes.

Diamonds reclaimed some pride with a hard fought 0-0 draw in the away game but were beaten 1-0 in the short “voided” season at Bromsgrove in October 2020.

In August 2021 Bromsgrove claimed the win with a 2-1 victory to kick start their season, but Diamonds bounced back to turn the tables in April 2022 with Will Jones and Connor Furlong securing a 2-1 victory.

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.