[ Sat 23rd Mar ] v Barwell FC, KO 3pm ESCP AWAY

[Dazzler]

Official Match Preview

http://www.afcdiamonds.com/barwell-fc-v ... 23rd-march

[Dazzler]

Jon Dunham speak to Jack Bowen ahead of this weekend's match.





Jack Bowen takes the congratulations after he scored what proved to be the winner in AFC Rushden & Diamonds 2-1 victory over Needham Market at Hayden Road last weekend.
Picture courtesy of Malcolm Swinden Photography

[Dazzler]

Barwell Matchday Programme - available online only.

https://twitter.com/BarwellFC1992/statu ... 0494925825

[sussexdiamond]

Top clash today is Stratford v Kings Lynn. Only K*ttering of the other contenders are at home against doomed St Neots. Banbury v Bigglewade, Needham v Coalville, Royston v Stourbridge, St Ives v Alvechurch. Let's hope for some upsets.

[Dazzler]

The latest from Jon Dunham

https://twitter.com/JonDunhamNT/status/ ... 4725394433



These were the dramatic scenes at Barwell in 2015 when Liam Dolman's last-gasp goal earned AFC Rushden & Diamonds an FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay. They go back there in the league this weekend, looking to maintain their push for a play-off place

[sussexdiamond]

I am so disappointed with todays result but the signs have been there for a few weeks now.. Hate to admit it, but that is our play off ambitions shattered for this season. If we cant beat Barwell then it is very unlikely we will beat Royston (who beat Stourbridge today) and St Ives in the next couple of weeks. I was at least hoping we could still be in contention by the time we played Stourbridge.

Our ONLY hope is that Stratford drop some more points and that we beat Coalville as well as winning our next two games.

I know that in time I will be posting what a great season we have had exceeding all expectations but at this moment I am feeling really really sick.

Please, someone come on here in 5 weeks time and remind me of this post!!!

[real diamond]

Today I think was when we realised we are not good enough to be in the top five.

It’s been a great season and maybe just maybe we can still have a great finish, we can only hope.

Defensively we now have the best back four this club has had, the same cannot be said for our attack options, we have a lack of ideas and quality in our forward positions and as the season has gone on it has become more obvious that we are short on quality going forward.

[TheIncognitoKid]

Not the result we wanted, but although there was little goalmouth action I actually found it quite an entertaining match. We had an early penalty, couple of goals, officiating of the poorest order and the comedy value of a Mr. Henry Eze at centre half for barwell. He has to be one of the biggest players I've seen on a football field at pyramid football level. The tightness of his shirts, slower jogging than onandi Lowe and a crazy forward role near the end, we're just some of his antics. Everybody was shocked to hear he was awarded man of the match at the end, but he did win a he'll of a lot of headers and only made one mistake near the end that nearly let Bowen in. I think he was their best player overall. Another brilliant performance from Zack Reynolds at right back, who I wouldn't be surprised if teams from higher up would be looking at him. Does look like we may fall short of the play offs, but we'll keep fighting and we need to get behind the lads. A cup final and a big one against our rivals to come in the next few weeks, so still a lot to look forward to in what has been a decent season.

[BartonRaz]

Defensively we now have the best back four this club has had, the same cannot be said for our attack options, we have a lack of ideas and quality in our forward positions and as the season has gone on it has become more obvious that we are short on quality going forward.

Agree with that. Peaks has said many times that this season is a bit of an experiment but that’s certainly the conclusion I’d take.

The midfield today had no attacking guile or invention and it left the attacking players feeding off scraps. The distribution of the ball from those areas was honking. Our best attacking player was our right back which probably sums it up. If the decision to drop Hicks was through anything other than injury then it was a desperately bad call and left us woefully short in that area.

Still life in the season yet, particularly with Stratford and Coalville dropping more points, but prior to today’s game I did have it down as a ‘must win’ given our remaining fixtures.

[Three of Diamonds]

Completely agree with you BR. At this time of the season I'd be expecting the management to be looking at who's going to stay for next season.
I have felt that very often we've been chasing teams a lot this season, and good teams will assess our weaknesses ready for the next campaign. It's been a good season and we shall need to strengthen for next year, or face a bigger struggle.