United increased their play-off hopes with hard-earned three points against their rivals from Northamptonshire in a very entertaining affair. This was the fourth meeting between the two sides who obviously knew each other very well, with at least seven of the players having played for both sides. In a close encounter, Rushden had the first chance when, in the 7th minute, Tom Lorraine had his effort well saved by Jack Harding, as he tipped the ball over the bar for a corner. From the resulting flag-kick, Jack Ashton went close with a header.

Brackley loanee Luke Fairlamb went close in the 12th minute with a shot which was only a foot wide, and Greg Kaziboni tested on loan giant goalkeeper Cian Tyler, as Banbury pushed forward in an effort to get themselves in front. However, it was more than half-an-hour before the opening goal arrived and it was well worth the wait. Ravi Shamsi, just a yard inside the touch-line on the left, sent in a perfect cross into the middle and Ricky Johnson reacted brilliantly when he beat Liam Dolman with a diving header which glanced into the far corner of the net from just inside the six-yard box, which emphasised the fact that there is not a better header of the ball in the whole division.

Banbury doubled their lead in spectacular fashion in the 40th minute when Shamsi collected the ball just inside the Rushden half and moved the ball forward before unleashing a left-foot 25 yard 'screamer' which thundered into the top corner of the net, and has to be a contender for goal of the season. This goal shook the visitors to the core, and they completely lost their composure, so much so that, in the first minute of time added on, ex-Puritan Nabil Shariff was shown a straight red card for an elbow on Jack Westbrook, that seemed to come right out of the blue yet strangely, in a very competitive game, this was the only card shown in the whole game.

The old adage about not being able to play as well against ten men instead of eleven rang true because from the start of the second-half, Rushden started to take control of things, and the addition of substitute Joel Gyasi, one minute after the restart, threw Banbury into a defensive mode, and they started to struggle to put any attacking moves together. The Diamonds, whilst now enjoying more possession, still found it difficult to work any decent chances to go their way, but in the 80th minute, following a hotly disputed handball decision, they were awarded a penalty. Lorraine hit the spot-kick with venom but Harding saved the kick, his ninth penalty save of the season, to deny the visitors a foothold back in the game. Banbury were now being restricted to breakaway chances, but they almost got a third goal when, in the 84th minute, Amer Awadh was unlucky when he came through and let fly with plenty of power but Tyler made a fantastic save to turn the ball away for a corner.

Rushden reduced the arrears in the 86th minute when Gyasi beat Harding from a narrow angle, and this then gave Banbury a last five minutes of nervous play before the referee blew the final whistle.

Banbury United:- Jack Harding, Connor Roberts, Jake Walker, Jack Westbrook, Charles Hawtin, Giorgio Rasulo, Ricky Johnson (captain), Claudio Dias (89 mins. Lewis Wilson), Luke Fairlamb, Ravin Shamsi (81 mins. Lee Henderson), Greg Kaziboni (67 mins. Amer Awadh).
Sub not used: Eddie Odhiambo.

AFC Rushden & Diamonds :- Cian Tyler, Zack Reynolds, Sam Brown, Jack Ashton, Liam Dolman, Fabio Sole (46 mins. Joel Gyasi), Ben Acquaye (85 mins. Leon Chambers-Parillon), Matthew Slinn, Tom Lorraine, Nabil Shariff, Nathan Hicks.
Subs not used: Patrick Casey, Ben Farrell, Ben Heath.

Man of the Match, as selected by match sponsor Edd Frost & Daughters – Ravi Shamsi

Attendance – 604

Photo: Jack Harding demonstrates his penalty-saving technique