U's:2 Diamonds:2

The Pogues are on the radio, Iceland are flogging frozen meat products of dubious origins, and the X-Factor is chugging predictably towards a hysterical climax; it must be nearly Christmas.

So I think I'm justified in dusting off the trusty festive cliches, despite the fact it's still November. Rushden must have thought Christmas had come early when United giftwrapped them a couple of goals in a truly awful first half. But they showed good presents (sorry) of mind to pull it together in an encouraging second period.

Despite the massively variant nature of our recent performances, I'm growing in confidence that the Linguist is indeed a wise man. I liked his comments at the end of last night's game, particularly when he spoke about wanting his charges to show a bit of bravery in their play. I find it incredibly frustrating when players treat the ball like a hot potato and look to offload it at the first opportunity. If he can build a team of good characters who aren't scared of a bit of responsibility, I reckon we'll do alright.

Until that time, our participation in the race for the play-offs must be in serious doubt. It would help if we stopped giving teams above us in the table a two-goal start, and to be honest it could have been more in a first half totally dominated by the visitors. Lee Tomlin, who was the best player on the pitch by a distance, gave them the lead with a 30 yard free kick which beat the badly positioned Potter at his near post.

At this point United, the excellent Courtney Pitt aside, weren't at the races as an attacking force, but they could have equalised when the Pittster released Parky with a super through ball, but the winger blasted his shot over the bar when a square pass to the unmarked Holroyd would have left Super Chris with a tap in. I feel slightly embarrassed rubbishing Parky again, but he was absolutely woeful during his time on the pitch, contributing nothing in the final third and giving Gleese no cover when Tomlin and his full back Kurt Robinson roamed forward menacingly.

It was 2-0 just before half time thanks to Jefferson Louis, who as usual against United did little of note except score a goal. Some swift passes across the edge of the box released Mark Byrne, and he crossed for Louis to sidefoot home with the defence appealing in vain for offside.

We didn't even really look like scoring at the start of the second half, as referee Barrett began interupt the flow of the match with seemingly random blasts of his whistle. It took a moment of inspiration from the hitherto anonymous Carden to bring us back into the game. Sliding in to win a challenge in midfield, he brought the ball away from two players and lamped a 35 yard effort over the stranded Nathan Abbey. Wind assisted perhaps, but spectacular none the less, 1-2.

And four minutes later it was all square, after Crowy was brought down on the right corner of the box by Stuart. Pitt delivered the free kick, and unlike our usual set pieces it was a good one, fired into the six yard box with pace and curl, allowing Brian Saah to escape his marker and head in from close range. Comeback-tastic, 2-2.

United were in the ascendency now, but couldn't capitalise, and by the end the visitors had recovered their poise and looked the more likely scorers. But there wasn't really any other goalmouth action of note, and the match ended all square.

If they can hang on to Tomlin, Rushden look a good bet for the play-offs, so a point against them isn't a bad result, but we need to start turning draws into wins. If we are going to make the top five, I don't think we can afford to be more than six points off the pace at the turn of the year, and with a difficult looking festive programme, the results of our next two league games, against struggling Chester and Eastbourne, could shape the rest of our season.

Man of the Match: Courtney Pitt - The only player to emerge with any credit from that awful first half, he was a constant menace to the Rushden defence.

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Goals goals goals

Footballers are a spiteful bunch.

I went to our first two home games of the season, and didn't see so much as a goal, let alone a point. Did they not appreciate that I clambered off my sick bed to see us keel over at the feet of Crawley? But as soon as I jet off on my wonderful honeymoon they find the net ten times in two home games, while also picking up a useful point at Rushden. Now I'm back, we can only hope the players don't return to their old shot-shy ways in tonight's match against Altrincham. If they do, I'll happily take donations so that me and the missus can afford to stay on holiday for the rest of the season. For the good of the team of course.

Apart from the glut of goals, it's been pleasing to note we've only conceded once in the four games since Brian Saah's arrival, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in action for the first time. We seem to be getting all the "easy" games out of the way first this year, having played and beaten all four current residents of the relegation zone. So while I suspect we will not have a firm idea about our promotion chances until we've faced stronger opposition, we are at least not yet looking back on points dropped against the divisions lesser lights.

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It's snow joke

Did you notice anything unusual when you woke up yesterday morning?

According to the radio, there was a cataclysmic national disaster overnight. The country was brought to a standstill, and the chances are society as we know it will never recover.

Either that or we’ve had a couple of inches of snow, and listening to some people (hello chavs of my office) talk, you wouldn’t think there was any difference between the two.

Luckily the killer snow held off long enough to complete Sundays game at Rushden. Due to an inconveniently-timed visit from some friends, I was unable to attend, but was by my radio to hear Mark Johnson utter the immortal words "Pitt gets in the cross, a header from Bollaaaaaaaaaaaand". The away support sounded pretty awesome on the radio, so well done to all who were there for being the teams 12th man and other such cliches.

It's interesting to note that the last two games we've won have come when we've a) lined up in 5-2-3, and b) not had Rendell in the team. I suspect the latter is a coincidence, but the former probably isn't and I hope that the Brabinator will stick with the formation for the next few games. We need some consistency if we're going to maintain our place in the play offs, and playing with wingbacks seems to suit us quite well at present.

The departures of Hoyte and Jardim were were two disappointing, if not entirely unexpected, developments on an otherwise quiet transfer deadline day. It surprises me that Hoyte, a player of some potential on the basis of his performances last season, has never been in the Brabinator's plans, but if he's not going to play there's little point having him here using up a wage. In my eyes there's little to choose between him and Coulson, and I suspect he will forge a decent career for himself elsewhere.

Ditto Jardim, who showed in patches this season the quality he possesses. Admitedly he hasn't done it on a consistent basis recently, but on the other hand he hasn't been afforded the sort of extended run in the side that other players, like Crow and Willmott, have been given when their form has dipped. Perhaps he is the kind of player who would benefit from playing at a higher level, where there is more of a focus on good football and less on your ability to kick other players in the shins. In any case, best of luck to both players in the future.

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U's:0 Diamonds:0

In my life so far encounters with famous people have been few and far between.

I’ve spoken to a couple of low-ranking politicians, interviewed Amanda Barrie, and served Lionel Perez an ice cream, but other than that my celebrity cupboard is bare.

So you can imagine my excitement when I pulled into a petrol station last Friday and found myself standing next to the great Wayne Hatswell.

I’d like to say I indulged in some witty banter of the kind that footballers favour, but instead I stood there gawping like a starstruck teenage girl as he filled up his BMW (he clearly gets paid too much by the way) and sped off into the distance. Never mind, I’ll certainly be frequenting that particular garage again in the future, so the chances are we may meet again.

Hats and his defensive colleagues were back in top form on Saturday, as we returned to our clean sheet-keeping ways by shutting out crisis-club Rushden and Diamonds. Sadly our forwards weren’t in such good form, and we failed to find the net in a game that always threatened to produce more than it did.

Although I wouldn’t agree with the Brabinator when talks of an “excellent performance”, we certainly played some good stuff at times, even if it didn’t result in goals.

The early loss of Beesley didn’t help of course. He went for a cross with Chris Hope and came off second best, leaving him with a cut right across the forehead. The problem when Beesley isn’t playing is that there’s no one to hold the ball up and bring other players into play. Without this we were a bit one paced, with the only threat coming from the flanks, where Robbie Willmott again put in an assured performance. Felino Jardim didn’t enjoy a great game, and was particularly poor in the first half, although he did pick up in the second period.

Best chances of the first half fell to Challinor, who saw two shots from outside the area saved by Dale Roberts.

Danny Potter had a quiet first half, but was much busier in the second period, when the visitors put in a series of crosses into the six-yard box which required decisive catching and punching from the U’s number one.

Leading the line for the Diamonds was our old camera-licking chum Daryl Clare, whose love of cold hard cash led him to make the move to Irthlingborough in the summer. He missed the best opportunity of the game, spooning a shot wide from six yards with the goal gaping after being set up by the languid Andy Burgess. Honestly, you don’t get much value for £3,000 p/w (allegedly) these days.

United didn’t really test Roberts unduly, with Carden shooting straight at the keeper, and Jardim and Willmott putting in awesome crosses that didn’t get the finishing touch they were crying out for. Holroyd had the ball in the net in the last minute, but this was disallowed for offside.

As a positive person, I chose to believe that we’re close to rediscovering the form we showed at the start of the season. At the moment it’s not quite clicking, but we’re still only two points off the top and, as I said last week, if we can get all parts of the team functioning at the same time it should all be happy days.

Man of the Match: Paul Carden – Totally dominated midfield. Please never get injured again Paul.







Quote of the Match: Brabin on Beesley – “He’s got a nasty gash on his head so he’s all stitched up - he looks like young Frankenstein at the moment!” Gotta love that famous scouse humour eh?!

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