Nailers held against 10-man Diamonds

Garnett tapped home into an open goal after Ruben Wiggins-Thomas burst through the Diamonds defence before putting an excellent ball into the awaiting striker.

But the Belper celebrations quickly turned to despair and disbelief as the flag of the linesman rose and the goal was ruled out for offside.

This was a game filled with controversy; starting with a red card for Diamonds Joe Curtis.

After both him and Mike Armstrong jumped for the ball; Armstrong came crashing down after Curtis seemingly caught the midfielder with his elbow.

The referee pulled out his red card almost instantly; giving Belper 66 minutes of football with an extra man to their opposition.

Belper attacked well but often struggled to break through the solid defence of Rushden and Diamonds; with the pace of Wiggins-Thomas and Garnett being the main outlet of attack through the game.

But Diamonds were not on the back foot throughout the fixture and were often attacking with great intent; with Nabil Shariff and Tom Lorraine getting a number of opportunities to put their side into the lead.

Despite the number of chances for the Diamonds; they very rarely tested Scott Low in the Belper goal, with most of their shots going harmlessly wayward.

Lorraine had a huge opportunity to put the home side in front as the forward found himself one on one with Scott Low. But Gerome Palmer pulled out an excellent sliding challenge to prevent the forward from pulling the trigger.

This led to many Rushden and Diamonds appeals for a penalty; but the referee saw that Palmer’s challenge was clean and fair so he waved away the claims.

The Nailers may be disappointed that they couldn’t get all three points whilst having their numerical advantage.

However, it is a much-improved performance and result from what was seen in the reverse fixture earlier in the season when the Nailers were defeated 4-1; showing that they have clearly improved and are on becoming the side they hope to be.

Also, a point away at side like Rushden and Diamonds will be difficult to come by for most sides this season; so this is certainly a good point for the Nailers.

Dominic Hynes