Peaks pleased as Diamonds battle back for win on the road

Tom Lorraine grabbed the late winner in Diamonds' 2-1 success at Alvechurch

Diamonds fell behind to an early Kieron Miller goal and then Nathan Hicks saw a first-half penalty come back off the post.

But Diamonds kept plugging away after the break and eventually equalised 13 minutes from the end when Nabil Shariff scored his first goal since returning to the club.

And all-time leading scorer Tom Lorraine came off the bench to grab the late winner to give Diamonds all three points and send them back into the top 10 in the BetVictor Southern League Premier Central.

Tom Lorraine celebrates after scoring AFC Rushden & Diamonds' winner at Alvechurch. Pictures courtesy of HawkinsImages

“It’s a really good result for us,” Diamonds boss Peaks said.

“If you are a goal down against anyone in this league and you come back to win like that then it has to go down as a really good result.

“It shows the character of the players because they kept going and eventually we got what we wanted from it.

“I was disappointed with the first half because we didn’t pass the ball well enough and we conceded too many set-pieces, which is Alvechurch’s big strength.

Nabil Shariff heads off to celebrate after he brought Diamonds level

“We missed a penalty and when it was one-way traffic and their goalkeeper made a couple of very good saves in the second half then I was wondering whether it would be one of those days or not.

“But credit to the boys, they kept going and eventually we found a way through.”

Peaks, meanwhile, believes he now has a “fantastic problem” with four strikers now at his disposal.

“I felt Nabil had to play after the way he performed in midweek and he was a menace all afternoon,” the manager added.

“I thought Jordan (Macleod) did well and I decided to go with those two and it was probably a bit harsh on Dovey (Ryan Dove) and Shanks (Lorraine).

“But it was great to see Shanks get the goal at the end and all it does is give me a fantastic problem.

“I have got four strikers who are all very different and who will all have a big role to play this season.

“The good thing for me is that they support each other, they like to see each other doing well and that’s a sign of the spirit within the dressing-room.”

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