Rushden & Diamonds 2 Spurs XI 4

In their final pre-season friendly Rushden & Diamonds played a full part in an entertaining game at Nene Park. Two goals in the first five minutes, from Lee Phillips and Andy Burgess, suggested the Diamonds might run away with this game, but the Spurs XI seemed to score in each of their first three attacks in the first half, and saw Tomas Pekhart complete a hat-trick in the second half.

Lee Phillips missed a penalty that might have assisted in a Diamonds comeback, but the result was not as important as the performance, and the fact that Garry Hill reported afterwards that he has no major additional injury worries, and has decided on his starting line-up for the first Blue Square Premier game at Eastbourne on Saturday.

On a pleasant evening Garry Hill made a number of changes, giving games to those players he felt were still in "need of a game" prior to the League season, which meant that Alan Marriott, Sagi Burton, Chris Hope, Curtis Woodhouse and Jon Challinor were not included in the squad.

Up front were Lee Phillips and Michael Rankine, with Dean McDonald in close support. Andy Burgess was played in central midfield alongside Scott Mitchell and Rob Wolleaston. At the back Justyn Roberts partnered Phil Gulliver, with Martyn Margarson in goal.

Spurs had a powerful strikeforce of Adel Taarabt supporting Tomas Pekhart up front.

The Diamonds started very brightly, attacking the AirWair end, and within a minute Dean McDonald had screwed a shot wide. A minute later the Diamonds were ahead, as a Scott Mitchell cross was knocked away for a corner on the right, and Andy Burgess' corner was poorly punched by Alnwick to Lee Phillips who slotted home his first goal in a Diamonds shirt.

All the play was in the Spurs half at this point, and three minutes later the Diamonds were two goals ahead, as a Dean McDonald run led to a cross which Lee Phillips failed to properly connect with, but the ball fell to Andy Burgess who sidefooted home into the middle of the goal.

The Spurs XI had not had an attack up until this point, but a minute later their first attack led to a goal, as a ball down the left channel fell to Taarabt who neatly turned inside and fed Tomas Pekhart who slotted home into the corner of the net..

The Diamonds continued to dominate the play, and had a number of good chances to go further ahead, with shots blocked. In one sequence a Wolleaston shot was well saved by Alnwick, the ball fell to Roberts whose shot was well blocked, but it then fell to Gulliver who could only shoot wide. A powerful looking Dean McDonald shot looked goal-bound until it struck a defender.

Referee Knowles was managing the game in a similar way to the Arsenal XI game, and allowing for it being a friendly, otherwise Daniel Hutchins would surely have seen red for a two footed lunge at Dean McDonald that the striker did well to jump and reduce the impact.

Gareth Jelleyman was getting forward more than in recent games, and put in a couple of good crosses that Michael Rankine was unable to convert, or Alnwick caught. An Andy Burgess chip was just over the bar from another Diamonds attack.

Perhaps one reason for the problems in the Spurs defence was an injury to Rocha, as he was replaced on 22 minutes. However, the reshaped defence was very lucky not to concede a penalty as Dean McDonald made a run into the area from the right-hand side, and was clearly held-up by Hughton. Many thought it was a clear penalty, others believed it might have been interpreted as obstruction, but neither match official close to the incident saw cause to award anything.

A Burgess corner might have brought a justified goal, but although Alnwick fumbled the ball bounced in the six-yard box and fell to Michael Rankine at waist height but he could only help the ball over the bar.

It was thus firmly against the run of play on 36 minutes when Spurs had their second major attack of the game and Hutton was fed by Taarabt and broke down the left wing to put in a cross which a largely unmarked Tomas Pekhart was able to easily head home.

This equaliser seemed to be the turning point of the game, as the Spurs team realised the space in the left channel available to them. It was down this route that they took the lead only a minute later, as Taarabt fed Hutton who was given time to hit a dangerous looking cross back across the area, that Gareth Jelleyman volleyed into his own net in an attempt to clear the ball.

As half-time approached Andy Burgess had a goal-bound shot blocked by Alnwick's foot, and a Michael Rankine cross / shot from the right hit the top of the bar - yet Spurs almost scored a 4^th goal when Phil Gulliver had to make a great challenge to thwart Hutchins.

Half time: Rushden & Diamonds 2 Spurs XI 3

The Spurs XI made a number of changes at half-time, and finally began to create their share of attacks.

Within 6 minutes of the restart they appeared to have sewn up the game, as a break from Alex Olsen on the right resulted in a cross which Tomas Pekhart was able to run on to and slot into the top of the net. for his hat-trick - taking all three of his goalscoring chances.

Four minutes later it appeared the Diamonds had a way back into the game, as defender Archibald-Henville has adjudged to have held down Michael Rankine in the area. Unlike in a previous friendly, Rankine was not able to take this one himself, as Lee Phillips stepped up, but hit the ball wide of the right hand post, keeping up the Diamonds poor record with dead-ball chances during the pre-season games.

A minute later it looked like there might be another penalty, as Rankine controlled a loose ball well, and set off on a good run toward goal, but was hauled down by Hutchins, but the referee gave a freekick on the edge of the box that McDonald wasted.

This was Rankine's last contribution to the game as he limped off to be replaced by Lee Tomlin. Adel Taarabt had been having a good game for Spurs, but he tried one step-over too many in the Diamonds box when surrounded by three Diamonds players, and Curtis Osano was able to clear. This show-boating also seemed to make him the target of some particularly determined Diamonds challenges for the next 15 minutes.

Curtis Osano once again threatened to break his goal-scoring duck for the club, with a great run and a shot that was narrowly wide, but the feature of the last quarter was the contribution of Jake Beecroft, who, although he had replaced Andy Burgess who had had an excellent game in central midfield, also shone in that role. Beecroft had a couple of attempt on goal himself, as well as unselfishly sweeping the ball wide to McGuinness who couldn't find Sam Smith with his cross. This period also saw the introduction of young Aynsley McDonald, who gained valuable experience at left-back.

The final action of the game was an excellent save by Martyn Margarson from a David Hutton shot as once again he found space on the Spurs left.

The match ended with the Spurs XI victorious, but the game was enjoyed by those that saw it, and it was a fitting tribute to Simon Parsell and all his efforts for Rushden & Diamonds Football Club.

Will Garry Hill in confident mood, it will be time to see how well the new signings play in a competitive game as they visit Eastbourne Borough in the first Blue Square Premier game of the season on Saturday.

Full-time: Rushden & Diamonds 2 Spurs XI 4

Teams:

Rushden & Diamonds (White): Martyn Margarson , Curtis Osano , Gareth Jelleyman , Phil Gulliver , Dean McDonald , Lee Phillips , Andy Burgess , Scott Mitchell , Michael Rankine , Rob Wolleaston , Justyn Roberts

Subs : Lee Tomlin (Rankine 58), Jamie McGuinness (Mitchell 63), Jake Beecroft (Burgess 59), Marcus Kelly (D McDonald 63), Michael Corcoran (Wolleaston 59), Sam Smith (Phillips 63), Aynsley McDonald (Jelleyman 70), Joe Day (not used)

Spurs XI (Sky Blue) : Ben Alnwick, Paul Stalteri, Cian Hughton , Kieran McKenna, Troy Archibald-Henville, Ricardo Rocha, Adam Smith, Daniel Hutchins, Tomas Pekhart, Adel Taarabt, David Hutton

Subs : David Button (Alnwick HT), Takura Mtandari (McKenna HT), Dorian Dervite (Rocha 26), Alex Olsen (Stalteri HT), Chace O'Neill (Taarabt 84)

Goals: Lee Phillips (2), Andy Burgess (5), Tomas Pekhart (5, 36, 51), Gareth Jelleyman (OG 38)

Referee: Mr C Knowles

Attendance: 1411 (away approx 300)

Man of the Match nominated by Match Sponsors Replas Ltd : Rob Wolleaston .