Rushden & Diamonds 0 Southend United 0

The Diamonds hosted League Two Southend United in their second home pre-season friendly of the 2010-11 campaign with the game ending goalless despite the visitors having the better of the chances.

The Diamonds started with a back four of Huke and Robinson at full back with Osano and Stuart in front of Dale Roberts. The midfield trio were Spence, Johnson and Porter, with Lee Tomlin, Ryan Charles and Sam Smith up front.

Justin Edinburgh was absent due to illness, so Paul Driver took charge of the team, and he made just two changes to the starting line-up that faced Shrewsbury Town in Devon, with Curtis Osano replacing Michael Corcoran and Max Porter replacing Alan Power. Justin Miller was unable to make his first appearance in front of a Nene Park crowd due to a knock picked up in a game at Newmarket the previous evening.

Southend fielded a team with many new faces as Paul Sturrock assembles a new side for League Two football.

The first half saw the visitors start much the brighter, and they had three clear cut chances in the first quarter, with an unmarked Scott Spencer missing a chance on the left hand side of goal, then Matt Paterson being denied by Dale Roberts when he was adjudged to have broken clear of the Diamonds offside trap. The third chance fell to Anthony Grant who had a chance to slide the ball in at the far post, but hit outside of the left-hand post before colliding it with himself.

The Diamonds gradually forced their way into the game, with Matt Johnson hitting a volley from a Robinson cross that Glenn Morris saved in the Southend goal, and Morris then tipped over a Lee Tomlin free kick from 30 yards.

Lewwis Spence picked up the Diamonds first yellow card of the season for a tackle on Merrick James-Lewis, shortly after he had played a defence splitting pass to Ryan Charles whose shot took a deflection and went for a corner.

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The last ten minutes of the first half were rather tame as the game remained goalless at the break.

Half-Time: Rushden & Diamonds 0 Southend United 0

The second half was much lower key, with neither side generating many chances. The visitors made many changes in personnel, whereas the Diamonds were content with bringing on Craig Farrell and Jamie Day midway through the half (with Day playing right back, allowing Shane Huke to move into midfield to replace Max Porter), with Farrell replacing Sam Smith. The Diamonds final change saw Joe Keehan replacing Lewwis Spence with 15 minutes left.

The Diamonds had threatened early on in the half, with Lee Tomlin setting up Sam Smith for a shot that angled just wide of goal, and then Lewwis Spence saw his powerful effort also fly just the wrong side of the post.

With the visitors wasting another excellent chance when a free kick from near the right corner flag eluded the entire Diamonds defence to an unmarked Mark Phillips on the left hand side of goal, but the defender was unable to direct his shot in the right direction. A cross from the left from Josh Simpson forced an excellent saving header from Jamie Stuart ahead of Harry Crawford as the Diamonds defence held firm. The hosts' two remaining efforts on goal in the half both came from Craig Farrell free kicks from the left of goal - the first flying just wide of the right-hand post, and the second saved by Evans when it bounced just in front of him.

Result: Rushden & Diamonds 0 Southend United 0

The Diamonds now have a short break until MK Dons visit Nene Park on Saturday.

Teams

Rushden & Diamonds: Dale Roberts, Shane Huke, Kurt Robinson, Max Porter (Jamie Day 62), Jamie Stuart, Curtis Osano, Matt Johnson, Sam Smith (Craig Farrell 62), Ryan Charles, Lewwis Spence (Joe Keehan 75), Lee Tomlin

Subs Not Used: Joe Day, Joe Yoffe, Max York, Nabil Shariff

Southend United: Glenn Morris, Sean Clohessy, Matt Lockwood, Craig Easton, Luke Prosser, Mark Phillips, Merrick James-Lewis, Anthony Grant, Vitaly Zilts, Matt Paterson, Scott Spencer

Subs: Rhys Evans (for Morris HT), Josh Simpson (for Easton HT), Harry Crawford (for Zilts 56), Will Hendry (for Grant 62), Ben Gill (for James-Lewis 62), Barry Corr (for Paterson 75), Louis Soares (for Spencer 77)

Sub Not Used: Bilel Mohsni,

Referee: Andy Woolmer

Attendance: 521