Justin Edinburgh

Grays 0-3 Rushden & Diamonds

Rushden & Diamonds put in a dominant performance as they thrashed Grays Athletic 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Things could have been a whole lot worse for the home side as the Diamonds put in one of their best performances of the season.

Aaron O'Connor opened the scoring for the visitors in the 39th minute after picking up a great pass from Lee Tomlin, leaving Grays goalkeeper Richard Martin with no chance.

After the break the visitors had an excellent chance to double their advantage when Tomlin was fouled in the penalty area by Jonathon Glowacki. However, Michael Corcoran was unable to convert from the spot as his penalty was put out for a corner by Martin.

Ironically, Corcoran did double his side's advantage from the resulting corner when he headed home from close range in the 72nd minute.

Rushden won another penalty in the 80th minute which was again well saved by Martin, but the rebound was smashed home by Jefferson Louis, who had missed the original spot kick.

Grays struggled to come to terms with a rampant Rushden side and will breathe a huge sigh of relief that the scoreline was not a lot bigger.

The victory keeps Justin Edinburgh's Rushden in the play-off mix on 49 points, while Grays are still struggling at the bottom of the table.

Grays bookings: Zola, Hunt, Glowacki

Rushden bookings: Tomlin

Attendance: 476

Referee: Alun-Wyn Davies