Diamonds 'didn't show enough fight' during disappointing FA Cup exit

AFC Rushden & Diamonds boss Michael HarrimanAFC Rushden & Diamonds boss Michael Harriman
AFC Rushden & Diamonds boss Michael Harriman
Michael Harriman admits his AFC Rushden & Diamonds players 'didn't show enough fight' in their FA Cup exit at Newark & Sherwood on Saturday.

Diamonds conceded two 'poor' goals as they were beaten 2-0 in the preliminary round clash.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To rub salt in the wounds, an added time penalty was missed as Harriman's men headed home with little consolation.

And the Diamonds boss said: "To go out of the FA Cup is never great but it comes down to the manner in which we've gone out.

"I don't mind losing games of football - we know we can't win every game - but the way we've lost this one is disappointing for sure.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"For the first 15, 20 minutes, we started well but goals change games, and we've given them a goal they haven't had to work hard for.

"You can't give teams like this a leg up in this competition, you've got to make them fight for everything, and at points we didn't do that. I'll be perfectly honest, I've told the boys that.

"It just comes down to desire and we didn't show enough fight on the pitch, which is disappointing because if you go back to the Corby games, we outfought them and overpowered them at times, but we didn't do that in this match.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It's not good enough. Emotions are running high at the moment and I'm trying not to say as much as I want to.

"The goals were poor and the boys know the goals were poor.

"We had to stay in the game but the second goal was really bad - worse than the first. There was no urgency to deal with a ball in and around our box and the lad's tapped it in from five yards.

"It's concerning because it's two poor goals we've given away, but we have to move on and make sure we bounce back."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.