Diamonds' point gives them 'something to build on'

AFC Rushden & Diamonds captain Liam Dolman celebrates after he put them in front during the 1-1 draw at Rushall Olympic. Picture courtesy of HawkinsImages

Peaks’ team made the trip on the back of three defeats in a row in the BetVictor Southern League Premier Central, the latest of which was a 3-0 loss at Tamworth last Tuesday night.

But they halted that losing run with a hard-earned point as captain Liam Dolman gave them the lead, only for Sam Whittall to level things up for the hosts on the stroke of half-time.

However, Peaks was pleased with the effort put in by his players as they got things back on track, although they are now without a win in eight league matches.

The net bulges after Liam Dolman put Diamonds in front

“I would say that, after the last couple of defeats, we now have something to build on,” the Diamonds boss said.

“I thought we were well worth the point and, at the end, we perhaps should have come away with all three.

“Both sides had chances but their goalkeeper has made the save of the game and we were pushing.

“I think we really moved on after the second half at Tamworth because we played well and were a bit unlucky and the players took the positives from it and then put a right shift in for us.

“We played some good football at times, we eradicated the mistakes and to come away with a point from a tough place really gives us something to build on going forward.”

Diamonds were boosted by the return of left-back Sam Brown at Rushall and they will also have Zack Reynolds back from suspension for Tuesday night’s home clash with second-placed Banbury United.

And a new signing is also set to be involved after the club confirmed striker Jordan McLeod had completed a move to Hayden Road.

The 23-year-old has joined from Peterborough Sports but had recently been dual registered Deeping Rangers where he scored 20 goals in 16 games.

Peaks added: “I have known about Jordan for a while and he really ticks a lot of the boxes for what we need.

“He is going to add something a bit different and it will be good to get him involved on Tuesday night.

“But we are still looking to add at least one more and I hope that, by this time next week, we will have another new face in there.”