Rusden & Diamonds 1 Oxford United 1

OK - so this is from our correspondent - he has strong veiws, he was there and I was not - read on.

Total Possible           97
Total Target              88
Total Form               82

My prediction - 85, play off place.

"This was an awful game between two extremely poor sides. If I hadn't seen the table, I'd have thought it was a game between two teams who were already relegated. Yes, it was that bad. I thought Rushden were the worst side we've played this season with the possible exception of Chester. How they are where they are I've no idea (but then a neutral would have said the same about us).

It didn't help that CW decided we should play with 10 players. There was a bloke wandering around in a no. 23 shirt but he can't have been one of the players since he had clearly never met any of the rest of the team, and he spent the entire game trying to avoid going anywhere near the ball. On the odd occasion that he was unfortunate enough to have no alternative but to touch the ball, he had no idea what to do other than to fall over. To say he carried less goal threat than Garry Smart does the Wizard of Wokingham a disservice. I gave John Grant the benefit of the doubt when he was dreadful at Cambridge, as it was his first game, but last night he was actually worse than useless. We would have been better off without him, as at least then he wouldn't have got in the way of other players. If he ever pulls on a yellow shirt again, I hope it is of the high-visibility type, perhaps collecting trolleys at Asda.

Apart from that and the dreadful traffic on the M25, M1 and A509 it was a great evening...

Clist was okay, and Beano looked reasonably sharp. Deering took his goal well and should have played from the start. Clark's kicking was terrible. There was a lot of miscommunication at the back, particularly between Batt and Day, and Wright tried to play too much football for a centre half. You could see that the players are frustrated as there was a lot of moaning and finger pointing. Jefferson Louis was his expected donkey-like self, fortunately.

If Rushden can beat Gateshead 8-0 then the Abroath v Bon Accord record is in the bag this Saturday."

Well there you have it, however 6 points from the next two really would change things.