It’s crunch time at Hayden Road as rock-bottom Diamonds host rivals

Action from Diamonds' 3-2 defeat at Corby Town (Picture: JIm Darrah)

Diamonds are currently 12 points from safety, while Gresley sit one place and 11 points above Michael Harriman’s side.

While Diamonds lost 3-2 at Corby Town on New Year’s Day, this weekend’s opposition were beaten 6-0 at home by title-chasing Anstey Nomads.

With Rushden in such dire straits, assistant manager Tom Lorraine knows every game is a six-pointer until the end of the season, but admits that this one carries extra significance if the team is to stand any chance of getting out of the bottom two.

"Gresley are certainly one of the teams that we are looking to catch and a team that we need to take points off," said Lorraine.

"I’ve tried to emphasise in the dressing room that we need to effectively put the first half of the season to one side and play the second half of the season as a little mini-league on its own.

"Only results matter now!"

Despite a spirited second-half performance, Diamonds suffered an eighth consecutive defeat in the 3-2 New Years Day loss at county neighbours Corby Town.

Cairo Taylor and Jarvis Wilson were the Rushden scorers, but Diamonds remain pointless from 11 away games after a first half defensive horror show.

Some costly mistakes saw the team trailing 2-0 and in trouble, before Taylor's late strike at the end of the first 45 made it 2-1 at the break.

The Steelmen then came out for the second half in a rush and extended their lead to 3-1 just after the restart.

And although Wilson reduced the arrears midway through the second half, the visitors could not find an equaliser despite a flurry of late corners as a relieved Corby side recorded a first home win of the season.

It was yet another frustrating afternoon for rock-bottom Diamonds, who go into 2024 having claimed just four points in the first five months of the campaign.

Lorraine was pleased with the second-half performance, while at the same time readily conceding it was all too easy for the home side in the opening 45 minutes.

"We were far too open, and we must address that," said Lorraine.

"We weren’t close enough to make tackles and then when we were close enough, we were missing them.

"That isn’t good enough and has to improve.

"I made a point in the dressing room at half-time that for the first goal Corby basically sliced us open with simple five-yard passes."