AFC Dunstable’s FA Vase dreams are shattered by cutting Diamonds

Ten-man AFC Rushden & Diamonds produced a superb performance to knock AFC Dunstable out of the FA Vase on Tuesday night.

The pair had drawn 1-1 at Creasey Park on Saturday, but the former Football League club eased to a 3-1 victory in this first qualifying round replay.

Manager Alex Butler said: “It’s the old cliché we were beaten by the better team on the night.

“R&D are clearly a quality side, we were unfortunate to face them at this early stage, but we had the chances to beat them in the home tie.

“A contributing factor was tired legs after extra-time on Saturday, with some of our key players choosing to then play on the Sunday.

“Perhaps our team selection was wrong, but we have the quality and confidence to bounce back in our next game on Saturday at Creasey Park against Hadley.”

AFC were able to restore main striker BJ Christie to the starting line-up as he came in for the suspended Dale Turney.

Diamonds pushed from the start and deservedly opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Sam Brown cut the ball into the path of Russ Dunkley to fire home.

Keeper Ryan Darby then made a smart save from an Aaron King free-kick.

The visitors though, had a great opportunity to level after 20 minutes when Christie raced clear but Tom Cross did really well to save.

An excellent move involving King, Dunkley and Alfie Taylor saw King try to dink the ball over the keeper, but the ball narrowly cleared the bar.

After some adjustments AFC again started to gain control of the midfield and got back into the game when referee Hardie brandish a red card after Joe Merrill hacked down Christie on 40 minutes.

Jonathan Barnett fired in the resulting free-kick and Craig Butler got the final touch to put the ball over the line.

Despite being a man down Diamonds continued to attack, going to a back three as they preserved their attacking threat.

And they were quickly rewarded four minutes into the second half when Sam Brown’s long throw from the left was flicked on by Dunkley for Taylor to nod home.

A minute later and the visitors were left reeling as Dunkley powered home a low shot with Taylor the provider.

Christie and Chris Francis both had chances, but in truth AFC rarely threatened, allowing R&D to see the game out.

Diamonds: Tom Cross, Joe Merrill, Sam Brown, Brad Harris, Alex Deakin, Jamal Clarke, Nat Liburd (Sean McBride 90+3), Aaron King (Elliot Dent 90+1), Russ Dunkley (C), Alfie Taylor (Ben Morgan 87), Fazel Koriya. Substitutes not used: Quincy Shorunmu, Jake Gillingwater.

AFC: Ryan Darby, Courtney Massey, Kyle Lincoln, James Baldry (C), Dan Ryan, Gareth Harnaman, Chris Francis (Carl Ibbotson 83), Craig Butler, BJ Christie, Jonathan Barnett (James Bishop 55), Richard Harker (Jonathan Cooper 55). Substitutes not used: Jack Lauder, Dan Edwards.

Attendance: 324.