Rushden unearth diamond in Smith

Kettering 1
(Seddon 9)
Rushden & Diamonds 1
(Smith 82)

Walter Gammie, A-Line Arena

When Rushden & Diamonds first played at Rockingham Road in the Conference in March 1997 they were wealthy parvenus, funded by Max Griggs, who swaggered to a 5-1 victory over their long-established Northamptonshire rivals.

The present club may not carry the same aura but the chastening decline after Griggs’s withdrawal has been replaced with restored stability and, with the arrival on the board of Lee Power, the former Cambridge United chairman, renewed ambition.

So little surprise that Garry Hill, the manager, admitted to blistering the paintwork in the dressing-room after his team were outplayed by Kettering Town in the first half upon the resumption of hostilities in the Blue Square Premier on Saturday. The blast had the desired effect and Rushden gained a deserved equaliser when Sam Smith followed in a curling cross by Andy Burgess. Smith, 18, is a home-grown talent who has scored as a substitute in the past three matches — a godsend while Daryl Clare, the leading striker, is out with a broken jaw.

Imraan Ladak, the Kettering chairman, has his hands full in taking his club forward off the pitch but his decision to turn to managers steeped in the non-League game after the ill-starred 39-day reign of Paul Gascoigne in 2005 is paying off. Mark Cooper has built cleverly on the Blue Square North-winning side. Exodus Geoghaghon is forging a promising partnership in central defence with the uncompromising Guy Branston and Alfie Potter, hero of Havant & Waterlooville’s FA Cup trip to Liverpool last season, is a star loan signing from Peterborough United.

Potter’s deft passing tormented the back four in the opening quarter and brought a goal for Gareth Seddon, signed from Hyde United after recovering from a blood disease that interrupted his career for 18 months.