Peaks offers no excuses as Diamonds are thumped

Andy Peaks admitted AFC Rushden & Diamonds were "not good enough" as they were beaten 4-0 at Beaconsfield SYCOB

Diamonds were thumped 4-0 at Beaconsfield SYCOB with the manager admitting that none of his players “came out of it with any credit”.

The performance came following impressive wins over North Greenford United and Aylesbury, which had taken Diamonds to the top of the Evo-Stik Southern League Division One Central.

But he didn’t mix his words after seeing his team well beaten by a Beaconsfield side, who climbed to eighth place as a result.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Peaks said.

“We turned up on a decent pitch and then, from the first minute until the last, we were poor. I don’t think anyone came out of it with any credit.

“I have said all the way through that every game is tough and if you are not quite right then you will get beaten.

“We were not right from front to back when it came to commitment, work rate and decision making and if you turn up like that then there will always only be one outcome.

“I will always defend the lads if I think they deserve it and that was the case when we got beaten by Chalfont and Egham because we played well.

“But we got what we deserved from this game and that was absolutely nothing.

“We had a good following behind us again but we didn’t reach the standards that I expect and it wasn’t good enough.”

The only crumb of comfort for Peaks and his players was that they stayed two points clear at the summit after second-placed Chalfont St Peter were beaten 3-0 by Northwood.

However, the boss believes the other teams in the top five who had their games postponed were the real winners.

“That’s the only good thing for us, seeing the Chalfont result,” he added.

“But, for me, it’s the teams who didn’t play who were the real winners, the likes of St Ives, Egham and Royston.

“They haven’t played and they have seen the top two getting beaten so they will be happier than anyone else after this weekend.

“I never go overboard when we win a game and I never go overboard when we lose.

“We were not good enough this time and we are going to have to play a lot better than that over the next 15 games if we are to get to where we want to be.”

Diamonds are back in action on Tuesday night when they take on Brackley Town in the semi-finals of the NFA Hillier Senior Cup.