[ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

All things unofficial about AFC Rushden & Diamonds and general football talk.
sussexdiamond
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by sussexdiamond »

Although the teams below us have games in hand and we have played some of the weaker teams lately it Is still great to see us so high in the table however short lived it may be. As they say it is better to have the points on the board. Considering how thin our squad is and not getting any better we are in a remarkable place at the moment. The next month will be a really testing time and at the end of it we will have a true picture of just how good we are. But lets enjoy it whilst we can.
davealbon
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by davealbon »

It looked like being a really frustrating night last night; we came flying out of the blocks, but a lack of quality in and around the final third prevented the early goal our build up play deserved. For all our possession and pressure, we were actually lucky not to be at least 1-0, if not 2-0 down at HT given the chances Halesowen had, despite not being able to string two passes together.

We got a bit of luck with the deflection wrong footing their 'keeper for the opening goal, although Farrell's shot might just have crept in the other corner, and I don't think the 'keeper was getting there if it had. The second goal was superb though, brilliant work from Albie and a terrific finish from Shanks. I believe that's 80 for him now. And even after the ridiculous sending off, there was only one team that ever looked like scoring again.

It's really difficult to know what to make of this league. Third is surely a false position, and I don't expect us to be up at those dizzy heights for long, but we've got there despite a very inconsistent opening few months, and with a squad that is weaker than it was last season (no Ryan Robbins who regularly scored goals out of nothing, no Joel or Luke tormenting defences from the flanks, and less strength in depth). And given how poor most of our opponents have been (I've not seen every game but only Stourbridge have really impressed me, Tamworth and Rushall were a step up from last year, but not a significant one, everyone else I've seen have been no better than most SLD1 sides), you wonder if this step up really is as big as people made out. I'd be interested to see how teams in our league have stacked up against teams from other step 3 leagues in cup competitions.
AFC Rushden & Diamonds Member No. 297
Dazzler
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Dazzler »

I can confirm that the power issues were not due to the extra Pie-Warmer that the Burger Monster plugged in last night, and we are working with Western Power on the underlying issues. Many thanks to them for their Emergency Response within about 30 mins (and of course thanks to our onsite Electrician David Hales for enabling the kick off with a bit of juggling power load whilst we awaited the response).
Rushdenjim
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Rushdenjim »

BartonRaz wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:40 am The one big fat negative was the attendance. Foul weather all day, the floodlights going off when KO was approaching and Champions League football on the TV won't have helped, but I think i'm right in saying that was our worst home league attendance since reforming by some distance. I'm sure someone can confirm? That's not going to help cashflow with no more home league games for a month.
Yes, as far as I understand it, it's only the second time we have ever recorded a sub 300 attendance for a home league game. Previous lowest attendances per season:

2017/18 - Tues 6th Mar vs Thame -334
2016/17 - Tues 27th Sept vs Romulus - 305
2015/16 - Tues 24th Nov vs Leighton - 297
2014/15 - Tues 13th Jan Vs Harborough - 311
2013/14 - Tues 15th Oct Vs Peterboro NS - 321
2012/13 - Tues 26th Mar Vs Rothwell - 319
Formic
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Formic »

We mustn't forget this was a match arranged at very short notice - and wasn't on the agenda when we played our previous home game. Many fans would already have had previous commitments - I was one of them.
Brownie
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Brownie »

Formic wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:23 pm We mustn't forget this was a match arranged at very short notice - and wasn't on the agenda when we played our previous home game. Many fans would already have had previous commitments - I was one of them.
I think it's fair to say some didn't even know it was taking place.
sandringhamdiamond
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by sandringhamdiamond »

The attendance was a concern, our lowest ever to see us move up to our highest ever position, I'm sure it will get discussed at the member's forum
Dazzler
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Dazzler »

More from Jon Dunham, earlier today - https://twitter.com/JonDunhamNT/status/ ... 5628792834
Olly
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by Olly »

Formic wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:23 pm We mustn't forget this was a match arranged at very short notice - and wasn't on the agenda when we played our previous home game. Many fans would already have had previous commitments - I was one of them.
Exactly, many people obviously do have internet and will follow the club on social media or on here and should have heard, but if anyone was going by even our most recent home programme or didn't regularly come on here or the OWS, they may have had no idea about it.

A very disappointing attendance of course and it was noticeably quiet, but not a huge surprise if I'm honest.

But positively speaking, even if we have been a bit up and down recently and have played more games than everyone below us, 3rd place is an amazing position to be in, there seems to be a real lack of strong teams that look up for a promotion push in this league and only the two at the top seem capable of putting together any kind of promotion form. Our true position is probably more like 7th or 8th, but the way thing are in this league, I don't think a playoff push would be completely impossible for us, unlikely yes, but not totally beyond us if we could get our full strength team fit and bring in a couple of new faces to bolster the squad, at the moment all it takes is for a team to go on a little run of form and they're in the top 5.
R.I.P. Dale Roberts

AFC Rushden & Diamonds - Member No. 308
sussexdiamond
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Re: [ Tue 27th Nov ] v Halesowen Town, KO 7:45pm ESCP HOME

Post by sussexdiamond »

With regard to our "true position". If all the teams below us won their games in hand we would drop to 12th. But of course that is not possible, so I reckon 8th is probably a fairer reflection. Of the teams in the bottom seven we have taken 17 points which if we replicated that in the return fixtures we would have no fears of relegation. Our big test is against the top half dozen where we have yet to pick up any points and have four of them to play in the next five weeks.
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