Diamonds break Waders' hearts with late leveller

A 3-3 draw at the Northants pacesetters is a good result but Waders were left disappointed at letting a 3-1 lead slip late on.

The anomalies of the fixtures pitted the top six teams in the division against each other on Saturday with all games ending in draws.

The first half at Hayden Road was a fairly mundane affair with the Waders having the better of possession but not creating many opportunities to gain the advantage. A lively Jonny McNamara aided by Joe White kept the pressure on the home side.

After the break, and kicking up the slope, the Waders started to perform to their true potential. A collision between the Rushden centre backs left both on the floor, White advanced on goal and pushed his shot past the advancing keeper.

The visitors kept pressing but during one Waders offensive the ball was swept out to Farrell who ran the length of the pitch, his inch perfect pass to Hopkins left to on-loan striker to beat the advancing Sam Donkin.

McNamara played havoc with the home defence down the left flank and with a quarter of an hour left he was fouled in the box. White stepped up to make it 2-1 from the penalty spot

McNamara got his name on the sheet by lobbing the keeper on 79 minutes to give the Waders what would appear an unassailable lead.

Rushden piled on the pressure, and a goalmouth scramble saw David Longe-King receive a second yellow for a high kick, the resulting penalty despatched by Farrell.

​The points still looked safe but on 94 minutes a second penalty was awarded as Bradshaw fouled Ben Diamonds trying to retrieve a ball running away from goal. Farrell deceived Sam Donkin again to level the scores.