Diamonds edge friendly cup tie

At the start of last season, Diamonds were without a home ground and in need of somewhere to groundshare until Haydon Road was brought up to code. Kempston Rovers stepped in and organised an agreement for Diamonds to use Hillgrounds until such time as they were ready to move ‘home’. In the end, Diamonds small army of volunteers got the ground at Haydon Road ready in time for the start of the season and Hillgrounds was never used for a competitive fixture by the Diamonds. Without the agreement in place between Diamonds and Rovers, the Northamptonshire club would not have qualified for membership of the Southern League. As a show of gratitude, Diamonds agreed to a friendly game between the two clubs, but as we were subsequently both placed in the same division last season, this was cancelled. Since Diamonds’ promotion in April, this fixture was always in the pipe line and sure enough, Diamonds came to Hillgrounds and the two sides agreed to play for the Harry Robinson Trophy, an award donated by the family of the late Robinson, former secretary at Rovers. In the past, the trophy has been played between Rovers and a team to which there is a great affinity.

The game itself started brightly and needed an early goal-line clearance to stop Tshikuna from opening the scores. The visitors almost scored the goal of the season before the season had even begun on twenty minutes as they engaged in some incredibly neat interplay between four members of the team that resulted in the ball being flicked over a defender’s head and into the path of the waiting forward. The build up was precision perfect, but the forward placed his effort wide of the post. The move drew applause from both sets of fans. As the first half drew to a close, Rovers had two chances to take the lead. First a free kick played in and flicked on by Crawley saw Collard have an effort blocked at point blank range, before, moments later Acquaye flashed a shot just wide.

The second half started as the first had finished, with Rovers marginally on top. A jinking run from midfield by Tshikuna saw him lay the ball off to Fuller, who saw his shot smothered. The two combined again on the hour mark but Fuller’s effort went over the bar. Diamonds again involved themselves in some neat, intricate passing that resulted in a swift break. Richards then had three bites at the cherry from inside the box, all blocked by a combination of defenders and keeper. In the eighty ninth minute, the deadlock was broken. A cross in from the left was tapped in by Ward at the far post. Moments later, the lead was doubled. The aptly named Diamond finishing from the edge of the box into the corner of the net. Two nil the final score, the result perhaps flattered Diamonds as Rovers had more than matched them for the majority of the game.

Diamonds were presented the trophy by Allan Scott, vice chair of the Bedfordshire FA and long time friend of Kempston Rovers.

Rovers now have two more preseason games left for the start of their league campaign. Saturday sees Felixstowe & Walton United come to Hillgrounds and then a week later, on the 11th, hosting Hertfordshire County side Sandridge Rovers. Both games kick off at 3pm.