BLUE SQUARE PREMIER - SATURDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2007

RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS

0

BURTON ALBION

0

ATT: 1807

CTMD view: A good away point, or two points dropped? Nigel Clough certainly seemed to take the first viewpoint, but many supporters left Nene Park unhappy that the Brewers failed to show enough attacking intent to win the match.

Rushden are not a great side, although they did look better than their current lowly league position. They were there for the taking in this match but it was obvious from the kick off that a point was always going to be enough for the Brewers.

Maybe it is testament to the recent success of Burton Albion that fans would bemoan an away draw at a former Football League club. A good point certainly but a dour performance. At least the sun was shining.

Credit to Diamond's manager Garry Hill who managed to go the whole 90 minutes without physically assaulting anyone. The feat is even more impressive when you take into account that Gary Crosby was in the next dug-out.

Managers view:

Nigel Clough - In an interview on the Derby Evening Telegraph website, Nigel Clough was pleased with a well earned point, "We are delighted to keep our little unbeaten run going in difficult circumstances, especially after the effort that went in during the second half," said Clough.

"It was a very hard-earned point. Without playing well, especially in the first half, the main thing is that we defended well for 90 minutes.

"You saw bodies being thrown in front of shots plenty of times. That, as much as anything, is what got us the point."

"We've come away with a clean sheet and we're thrilled with that. We're not even too disappointed to lose our record of being the only side to score in every game because, from the way the game was going, even from early on, we would have been delighted with a point."

What the paper say:

Northants Evening Telegraph - 'Firing blanks with no shots on target'. KEVIN POOLE has probably never had an easier day in his professional career.

The 44-year-old goalkeeper didn't make a single save and he hardly needed to collect any crosses either.

Poole only dealt with a couple of back-passes and could have stayed at home as Rushden & Diamonds failed to produce a shot on target.

He started at Aston Villa in 1981 – moving on to the likes of Leicester City – before the majority of Nene Park's current squad were even born.

Poole, named as Burton Albion's player of the season when they almost sneaked into the play-offs last term, was well protected by the Brewers backline.

But there were clear-cut chances being created – only for Diamonds, in particular Michael Rankine, to waste them.

Rankine could have gone away with a signed match ball to celebrate a second-half hat-trick. Instead he showed why he's not a natural goal-scorer.

Within a minute he headed wide from six yards at the far post and lobbed another effort off target.

Soon afterwards Rankine went close with an angled drive which flew just over the bar into the Peter De Banke Terrace.

But the worst miss came with 10 minutes to go as he somehow failed to convert in front of an open goal following a left-wing cross.

Last season Rankine was lucky to reach double-figures thanks to a series of tap-ins towards the end of the campaign.

This time he couldn't even put one of those away.

Rankine is non-League football's version of Emile Heskey and that's not meant to be a compliment.

While he works hard, you never believe he's going to be prolific – even though that's his job to score goals on a regular basis.