Sandy blasts players as Diamonds throw away lead to draw at 10-man Corby Town
Elliot Sandy admitted AFC Rushden & Diamonds' performance in their 3-3 Bank Holiday derby day draw at Corby Town was 'simply not good enough'.
Diamonds looked to be coasting to victory in the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division clash at Steel Park, as they led 3-1 early in the second half against their 10-men hosts.
With Diamonds 2-1 up thanks to goals from James Clifton and Joel Nketia, Corby's Brad Gothard was sent off on the stroke of half-time.
Freddie Robinson then made it 3-1 nine minutes into the second half, and Diamonds looked nailed on for three points.
But 10-man Corby came roaring back, and thanks to goals from Amir Ward and Jordon Crawford they levelled the match at 3-3 to claim an unlikely point.
And Sandy was not a happy man.
"We have scored three goals away from home, but that was simply not good enough," the Diamonds boss told @AFRCD.
"Corby could have easily folded at 3-1, but they gave absolutely everything for their manager and credit to them.
"To be fair they could have even nicked it at the end, although I still think we should have won it with the chances we had, but we didn't.
"An 18-year-old has bullied my defence all afternoon, we lost runners, and I could go on. We need to raise our game.
"It's not the end of the world, we haven't lost, we are still undefeated in the league.
"But I am just really disappointed because the team we had on that pitch at 2-1 up in the second half should be seeing the match out.
"I am not happy, the lads have been told what we expect, and now we have to move on.
"We made changes Saturday to ensure lads were fresh, while Corby played the exact same 11 that they played on Saturday (against Stafford Rangers).
"Corby were full of energy, gave absolutely everything, and our lads just thought the job was done, and they suffered for it."
Diamonds are back on the road for another derby on Saturday when they go to UCL side Desborough Town in the Emirates FA Cup (ko 3pm).