AFC Rushden & Diamonds 2-1 Long Eaton United
Northern Premier League – Midlands Division
27/09/2025 – Hayden Park, Rushden, NN10 0HX

After a week off, the Blues returned to league action and travelled to Hayden Park to face AFC Rushden & Diamonds.

The Diamonds came out 2-1 winners on the day with goals from Olly Brown-Hill and Ty Ward.

Tristan Thompson-Matthews netted for the Blues in the 90+2nd minute however we were unable to gain any points on the road.

The spotlight was on the referee for the majority of the game with red cards being shown to Rushden’s Raymond Poku and our midfielder, Cieron Keane.

In a game that became rather scrappy at times it was the home side that walked away with all three points.

James Taylor came into the starting XI to replace Gianluca Bucci who is currently serving a three-match ban for the red card he received against St Neots Town.

The nature of the game was set early on as Owen Betts was shown a yellow card by the referee. The match would go on to have plenty of those.

Cieron Keane tried his luck in the ninth minute when he nearly found the top left corner with the outside of his left boot. Evan Garnett had an opportunity to open the scoring just minutes later however his powerful strike was straight at Lewis Elsom in the Rushden net.

The hosts were down to ten men in the 29th minute when Poku was shown a second yellow card. The first one was for kicking the ball away that was seen as wasting time in the referee’s eyes and the second was for a dive in the box. There was controversy surrounding both decisions
however Rushden were down to ten.

Coden Duncan was then published into the referee’s book in the 35th minute.

It was all square at the break.

Keane was then shown his first yellow card in the 65th minute.

James Shaw came close to breaking the deadlock in the 68th minute but his long-range effort skimmed the top of the crossbar.

We came close again in the 74th minute when Tristan’s effort collided with the left post. The ball then bounced nicely for Shaw who tried the spectacular with an overhead kick however the effort was smartly saved by Elsom.

Keane was awarded his second yellow card of the game in the 77th minute after a late challenge. It was now 10 vs 10.

Two minutes later the hosts took the lead in the 79th minute. Olly Brown-Hill’s left footed curler from the left side of the box found the bottom left corner.

The Diamonds doubled their lead in the 85th minute when Ty Ward took the ball round Lewis King and finished calmly into the back of the net.

Tristan pulled a goal back for us in the second minute of stoppage time and what a finish it was. The ball fell to him on the edge of the box and he finished into the top left corner with his right foot. A spectacular goal from our attacking midfielder.

There were three minutes left to play however the Blues failed to rescue a point.

It is a quick turnaround however as we travel to Sutton Coldfield Town on Tuesday night with the aim of returning back to winning ways in the league.

Match report: Sam Hargrave.