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Droylsden 1 Rushden and Diamonds 4

Gary Owen
13/12/2007

ALTHOUGH it took a while for both sides to adopt to the standing water and driving rain, the pitch itself held up remarkably well and an incident-packed afternoon soon manifested.

The Northamptonshire side took the lead on 36 minutes when the game’s first corner was bundled in at the far post by Wayne Hatswell, but Droylsden will feel aggrieved about the clear foul on Colin Cryan by Simeon Jackson leading up to the award of the flag kick.

Controversy arose just a minute later when Jackson burst through and, despite looking a yard offside, lashed a shot past Paul Phillips and it seemed that the ball went into the goal and through the netting.

After consulting with his assistant – but not taking the opportunity to examine the nettting – the referee awarded a goal kick, to the dismay of the visitors.

Gareth Morris struck a free kick straight at Paul Bastock but Rushden doubled their lead just before the break when Phillips underhit a free kick.

Martin Foster turned it goalwards, the ball striking the foot of the post and Michael Rankine reacting quickest in beating Phillips to the loose ball.

The hosts were given a mountain to climb on 49 minutes when Lee Roche was dismissed for upending Jackson in the box, Jackson converting the spot kick.

Moments later, Phillips brilliantly palmed away Rankine’s strike, Curtis Woodhouse then struck the woodwork, and the follow-up shot went wide.

Droylsden began to show some urgency as Kevin Lynch helped on a dangerous ball from Chris Denham to the far post where Bastock saved well from the sliding Jamie Tandy.

From the corner kick, though, the hosts won a penalty of their own when Jon Challinor was adjudged to have tripped Jody Banim who duly beat Bastock and reduced the arrears.

However, almost immediately, Droylsden shot themselves in the foot as Gareth Morris, believing he had been fouled in his own box, picked the ball up, but the referee saw nothing wrong and Rankine netted his second from the spot.

In the dying moments, Cryan headed off the line from Woodhouse and Bastock denied Banim before the bizarre events were drawn to a close.

Attendance: 417