Score and Scorers

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Rushden & Diamonds

Wrexham

Dennis Lawrence

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Yellow and Red Cards

Rushden & Diamonds

73'

Stat Attack

Rushden & Diamonds

Other Information

RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS 2 WREXHAM 3
By Alun Thomas, Red Passion Online

PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS? This would be a good one to win. Rushden, unusually for them, are becalmed in mid-table while Wrexham could be poised to stride into the play-off zone. Morgan retains his place - the hosts' Turley and Lowe are missing.

CONDITIONS? Immaculate pitch. A cold, clear day.

SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE? A far more comprehensive victory than the scoreline would suggest.

TURNING POINT? Possibly the early goal - it confirmed our superiority and settled us down a bit.

MAIN INCIDENTS?

0 - 15 mins : Wrexham were into their stride almost immediately, with some neat passing and hard running off the ball which clearly unnerved the Diamonds. A trademark run from Carlos (jaded, him?) and 20-yarder put us one up. Score 0 - 1.

15 - 30 mins : Much of the same, with Dazzler running the show in midfield and Whitley having one of his more authoritative days. Rodney Jack starting to threaten on Rushden's right. Morgan limped off with a mystery injury, which was a shame - he's so cool it's frightening. His ready-made replacement, Carey, is, of course, just frightening). At this stage we were playing some lovely football.

30 - 45 mins : We were given breathing space when a visibly delighted Ferguson curled in a free-kick from 20 yards before racing the length of the pitch in celebration - I didn't think he could run that far! Wrexham reached half-time well on top, looking dangerous with every attack, and our possession football was pretty to watch.

45 - 60 mins : Brian Talbot's interval talk didn't seem to have had much effect and his team needed a helping hand to get back into the game. Carlos and Steve Roberts overelaborated at the back and the predatory Kitson was in like Flynn (no, not that one). Hearts sank but within three minutes we were two ahead again. Ferguson, with one of those sublime moments which raise him from a good player to a potentially great one, played in Sam, whose finish was as slick as it's usually slapdash. Sensible substitution by Denis saw Thomas on for the tiring Jones.

60 -75 mins : Several chances to extend the lead and a projected score of four or five didn't seem unreasonable, but chances (some clear-cut) went begging, with Llewellyn, Sam, and both Edwards boys guilty. We do like to make things interesting, though, and when Dibble came for a cross that he wouldn't have reached if he'd been twice his considerable size, a surprised Kitson snaffled the goal.

75 - 90 mins : Heart-stopping stuff, with Diamonds' Underwood a constant threat on the left. Some tired legs doing the chasing for Wrexham. Eddie was coming more into the game now. His occasional inability to beat his man and poor crossing can remind me of Blackwood, which can't be a good thing, but his was an industrious show today. The last quarter of an hour was never comfortable but the worry was alleviated by a side attraction, The Amazing Diving School Of Hector Sam. Surely even The Smiler doesn't expect to gain free-kicks for some of his theatrics, but they make for superb entertainment.

OPPOSITION AND FANS? I think we caught Rushden on a bad day - they can't possibly be as bad as that every week. 4/10. Shocking to see their fans streaming out with ten minutes to go, just when their team was pressing for an equaliser and need their support the most. 2/10.

OFFICIALS? Mr. Friend displayed the hallmark of top-class refereeing - anonymity. Hardly noticed him, so 9/10, and his assistants were spot-on as well.

MAN OF THE MATCH? If pressed I'd say Steve Roberts - a towering performance - it's good to have him back.

IF YOU WERE DS? "I never thought I'd say it about one of my sides, lads, but that was nearer to sexy football than any of Ruud Gullit's sides ever managed!"

Jump To: Match Stats, Match Reports, Detailed Match Reports, Other Match Reports, Press Conference Quotes, Division 2 Results, League Table.

BBCi: Rushden & Diamonds 2 Wrexham 3 - Minute-by-minute

Ananova: FT- Rushden 2 Wrexham 3

Denis Smith: "The first half was very good and we should have scored a goal or two more. It was a superb performance and was more of what we have been doing of late. In the second half they changed things and I had the choice to close things down and catch them on the break. I took a gamble and possibly it didn’t come off, but we worked had and even when they got back to 3-2 wasn’t I really worried. We have changed our system slightly and it’s really beginning to blossom for us. That first goal was possibly the goal of the season, but then Darren produced a magnificent pass for the third, which Hector did really well to put away.” [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Results

Barnsley

0-0

Grimsby Town

10,092

Brighton & Hove Albion

0-1

Stockport County

Wilbrahham 79'

6,171

Bristol City

Peacock 70'

1-1

Sheffield Wednesday

Proudlock 25'

13,668

Colchester United

Andrews 10'

1-0

Chesterfield

3,115

Hartlepool United

Barron 40'

1-1

Wycombe Wanderers

Currie 3'

5,153

Luton Town

Forbes 29'

Hillier Sent Off 39'

1-1

Peterborough United

McKenzie 64'

6,067

Notts County

Platt 26'

Caskey 90'

2-0

Brentford

4,145

Oldham Athletic

Vernon 30'

1-1

Bournemouth

Feeney 45'

5,850

Plymouth Argyle

Keith 42'

1-0

Blackpool

Douglas Sent Off 85'

12,372

Queens Park Rangers

Gallen 47'

1-1

Tranmere Rovers

Haworth 5'

12,937

Rushden & Diamonds

Kitson 53' 66'

2-3

Wrexham

C Edwards 10'

Ferguson 35'

Sam 56'

4,117

Swindon town

0-0

Port Vale

5,313

League Table