[ Tue 27th Oct ] v Barwell FC, KO 7:45pm FAC4QR HOME

[Oundle Diamond #2]

Agree with the positive posts. Ultimately, it was an honour to witness an AFCRD side in FAQ4, and you can't find fault in the players at all. Quigley was the pick of the pack in terms of effort, but as a whole I was impressed and proud to be a Diamonds fan tonight. Great to see us break the 1000 mark, and so comfortably too. I knew we'd do it tonight, although I've got to say I'd rather it wasn't that full every week. I quite like having a Diamond Burger :lol:

Barwell were simply too good for us, it was strange to see players who dominate games in our league struggling so badly (Bunting is the most obvious example). In the end, we simply resorted to long balls and set pieces, which to be fair, given the gulf in class, we can't have too many complaints about. Onwards and upwards. There's absolutely no reason why tonight should have a bearing on the rest of the league season, so let's win this title Diamonds!!

[Trek]

Great effort by the lads, but the gulf in class showed as others have said. Barwell are a very well drilled outfit and I would expect them to be challenging for a play off place in the NPL come the end of the season. In the end of the day they only beat us by a solitary goal and it took them 70 odd minutes to achieve that. Finlay was fairly untroubled most of the match. The lad who scored, Brady Hickey, will surely be a name to watch out for in the future and I understand he's already attracting significant interest from League clubs.

Tremendous turnout from our fans and probably an 'eye opener' for a club like Barwell, who let's not forget, have been established as Step 3 club for a number of years now.

In the end of the day it's been a great Cup adventure, welcomed cash in the coffers for our Club and excellent media exposure. In three FA Cup campaigns since forming we have only succumbed to Step 2 and 3 clubs and taken some 'notable scalps' on the way.

I'm very proud of OUR Club.

We can now concentrate on the League! Bring on Barton Rovers. ;)

[Three of Diamonds]

A great effort by the lads but beaten by a team that played at a higher tempo. We've seen what we need to build for the next level up.

[Trek]

Talking of crowds here is an article from Cambridge United's Coconuts site that I follow and there's mention of a 4,500 record crowd at the Dog & Duck for a FA Cup 2nd QR replay in 1967 between the Doughboys and the Poppies. Ian Addis in one of his books on Northants football states that the attendance was actually 4,103. Now I know changes were made when a part of the ground was sold off for the hotel development nearly 20 years ago but it beggar's belief that such a number were in the ground and I wonder how many actually saw much of the game.

http://www.100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk/joh ... allam.html

I wonder what would be considered today a safe limit bearing in mind current ground regulations?

[Rushdenjim]

Talking of crowds here is an article from Cambridge United's Coconuts site that I follow and there's mention of a 4,500 record crowd at the Dog & Duck for a FA Cup 2nd QR replay in 1967 between the Doughboys and the Poppies. Ian Addis in one of his books on Northants football states that the attendance was actually 4,103. Now I know changes were made when a part of the ground was sold off for the hotel development nearly 20 years ago but it beggar's belief that such a number were in the ground and I wonder how many actually saw much of the game.

http://www.100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk/joh ... allam.html

I wonder what would be considered today a safe limit bearing in mind current ground regulations?

I reckon we could get 2,000 in there space wise its just the lack of turnstiles, toilets and hot food provisions that would be a bigger issue

[Dowlo]

There can be no complaints about last night's result, we were beaten by the better side. I bet their keeper is relieved he has 10 quality players in front of him, he is clearly way out of his depth, and flaps and spills 90% of the stuff that comes his way.

No question that every player on the pitch gave their all. To come so close and just miss out is obviously gutting but the players, fans, board members and everyone involved in the club can be extremely proud of what we have achieved. As people have said before on here, we have only lost by 1 goal to a team who will be no doubt challenging for the play offs in their league this year.

The fact that over 1000 people turned up on a Tuesday night, shows that for the "bigger" games the name Rushden and Diamonds can still draw a crowd. If at least 50-100 of those extra people return again this season that would be encouraging.

However last night also highlighted the need to have a ground of our own, it was extremely crowded and cosy in the De Banke and all around the footpaths. On the pitch we are not far from where we need to be to reach the Southern/Northern Premier. Off the pitch will be the clubs next major hurdle. 5-10 years down the line we can hopefully be looking forward to more nights like last night (obviously with a better result) in a home and surroundings we can call our own!

So it's now back to concentrating on the league, we can hopefully use this result to motivate us to bounce back on Saturday against Barton Rovers. We are more than capable of gaining promotion this year whether that be through the play-offs or even automatically. It's no doubt going to be another exciting rest of season for all of us involved with the MIGHTY AFC RUSHDEN AND DIAMONDS!!

[Pete]

From the report:
"The muchly expected throwing of bathroom fixtures at the Barwell back four never really materialised"

Ha! Nice work, Ollie.

From me, a night and a run to be proud of. Great to see that many people in the ground.

[Pigman]

What dowlo said! ^^

We gave it a go, but they were far quicker to the tackle, the second ball and generally better - with a better keeper they'd be a really decent side !! We pushed them, but they had that little bit of class to unlock our defence when needed - I'm not going to comment on our defending of that cross, I'm sure Peaksy will have his say on Thursday training!

We can be mightily proud, now it's dust ourselves down and focus on the league - we're one of only 2 sides unbeaten across steps 1-4, so I want to keep that going - let's call it "operation Barton backlash"

Massively proud of the lads and of the club generally - 1162? Fantastic to crack that 1k barrier - next target up 1500

[Trek]

I'm not going to comment on our defending of that cross, I'm sure Peaksy will have his say on Thursday training!

Defending those type of crosses is certainly our Achilles heel at present. Goals at St Ives, Kings Langley, Barwell (Sat) and last night spring to mind. :( It needs to be addressed.

[davealbon]

Talking of crowds here is an article from Cambridge United's Coconuts site that I follow and there's mention of a 4,500 record crowd at the Dog & Duck for a FA Cup 2nd QR replay in 1967 between the Doughboys and the Poppies. Ian Addis in one of his books on Northants football states that the attendance was actually 4,103. Now I know changes were made when a part of the ground was sold off for the hotel development nearly 20 years ago but it beggar's belief that such a number were in the ground and I wonder how many actually saw much of the game.

http://www.100yearsofcoconuts.co.uk/joh ... allam.html

I wonder what would be considered today a safe limit bearing in mind current ground regulations?

I reckon we could get 2,000 in there space wise its just the lack of turnstiles, toilets and hot food provisions that would be a bigger issue

I think we are limited to around 1700 due to the number of turnstiles. Adding an extra turnstile would increase that to around 2500, which would be the maximum with the current setup. I think we would need to add extra terracing/crush barriers to increase the capacity beyond that.