The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Not excited, nope, not me, not one bit !!

It's been an excellent sporting week for Staffordshire with gold medals in the Swimming and Kayak events, so let's hope that doesn't continue on Saturday.

There's a good aerial view of the ground on one of the included files in the match preview, which highlights the impact of the cycle track, and the possible view from behind the goal.
http://www.afcdiamonds.com/wp-content/u ... mation.pdf

I probably won't get to see this game. Let's hope the team gets off to a winning start to the season. 3 points is very important in the early stages of a new league. Good Luck.

COYD

Full Time 1- 0 to Newcastle Town.

Very late goal again.

It's difficult to know what to make of that game. The home side had undergone many changes over the summer and it really showed. We bossed the first half but only had a couple of decent chances on goal, with little width and little linkage between the strikers. Jake Newman then tried to cross with his right foot which ended his afternoon, and we looked a much more cohesive unit, with Lewis Leslie showing why he was unlucky to be left out of the starting line up. We continued to suffer a lack of width - hopefully that will be improved when Ross Oulton is available - but did threaten many times without bringing out a real save from the home keeper. We had enough chances to be out of sight before the last 10 minutes when we seemed to implode. Two comedy corners were given away without the home side really threatening to win one, giving them the confidence to pressure us for the first time in the game, and the predictable winner came with no time to reply.

Very disappointing outcome, I thought Newcastle were very very ordinary. Offered next to nothing yet still won, unbelievable! Some of our build up play was ok however our finishing was shocking, seriously bad. Some players looked poor/ tired today, need to get with it and quick. The one positive was the performance of Bradshaw at right back, very promising. Still need that quality striker who will take these chances, hope one of the current crop step up or we need another player. Also we need to play wingers, can't we sweet talk Hoban back, we so miss him.

Thought i'd give myself the night to calm down before posting. Not because we were that bad (I didn't think it was necessarily a poor display), not even because we lost to such a late goal, but more because a very poor side playing the way Newcastle did yesterday were able to beat us.

This may sound like sour grapes and maybe it is a little bit, but they've put 10 men behind the ball at all times (at home!) and kicked/elbowed us so frequently it's baffling they were able to keep 11 men on the field. We've dominated the game for 88 minutes and had a stonewall penalty turned down very early on, so to be beaten was very tough to take particularly on the opening day.

As others have alluded to we missed the players we knew we would from last season. I also felt we missed a Quigley-type to ruffle a few feathers. Playing without natural width didn't seem to do us any favours, in fact, whenever we deviate from 4-4-2 things don't seem to end positively, with one exception being the Hillier Cup Final.

The most worrying thing for me looking back on the game yesterday is that we'll face far tougher opponents this season.

On a positive note, Bradshaw was excellent and I thought Nabil Shariff looked very lively also although he suffered badly with no real service and was having to generate his own chances.

It's the first game with a handful of new players so I'm not going to worry too much but considering how poor the opposition were, I can't get my head around the result. Dominated the game for 85 minutes+ then seemed to lose concentration, switched off which led to mistakes and completely fell asleep for the goal. Promising performances from a lot of players but too many mistakes at the back which cost us in the end. Also, why do we insist on trying new formations that rarely ever work instead of playing 4-4-2 with width and get at the defence when we seem to be most effective. Although, we didn't actually play that bad - I don't think we suit the formation that was used yesterday. Completely undeserved loss but we go again Tuesday looking for 3 points.

Need to take are chances better, and stop conceding sloppy goals, we need to buck up are ideas and win on Tuesday.