Sandy rues ‘rash’ red card but praises 10-man Diamonds as they secure draw
Boss Elliot Sandy was full of pride after seeing his AFC Rushden & Diamonds side claim a 1-1 draw with Shepshed Dynamo on Tuesday night - despite playing for more than 70 minutes with 10 men.
Former Northampton Town man John-Joe O'Toole was sent off in the 18th-minute after picking up two yellow cards in the space of 30 seconds.
The first was for a foul, the second for dissent, and Sandy felt referee Luke Scott's decision to send his man off was 'too rash' so early in the game.
Shepshed were themselves reduced to 10 on 51 minutes with the score still at 0-0, but the visitors then took the lead six minutes later.
Diamonds, who had created plenty of chances despite being a man down, kept plugging away and were rewarded with an equaliser when Bruno Andrade netted from the penalty spot.
The result means the Hayden Road side are still unbeaten in the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division this season.
"That was a hell of a game and it could have gone either way, with two good teams desperate to win," Sandy told @AFCRD.
"In the first 20 minutes with 11 on the pitch I thought we played some of the best football since I have been here.
"Then that decision from the referee to dish out two yellows to the same player in 10 seconds for a red card just kills it, because nobody wants to see that.
"I get where the ref is coming from, but just have a but about yourself to calm the situation and take a second to think, and it was too rash.
"But it happened, we reacted really well and played some good stuff and probably had the better chances in the first half.
"In the second half we had quite a lot of the play and were on top again, and then they go down to 10 men and the game then evened out a bit more.
"They hit us on the counter to go 1-0 up, but we react and a draw was probably a fair result.
"It was two really good sides who gave everything.
"And if you had told me you would get a point after being down to 10 after 18 minutes, then I would have took it.
"So I am proud of the lads for the way they dug in and managed to get some sort of result."
The draw was unbeaten Diamonds' fourth in six matches as they dropped to 11th in the table, and Sandy admitted that is a habit he doesn't want his team to get into.
"We don't want to become draw specialists because it doesn't really do anything for you," he said.
"But to go six games unbeaten in this league is something to be proud of, and there is only us and Wellingborough who are unbeaten, so that's a good thing.
"We do take pride in being hard to beat, but especially when you are at home you want to win your games."
Rushden take a break from league action this Saturday when they host Peterborough Sports in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup (ko 3pm).