The Youth Team visited Millwall on Saturday and came away with a creditable 1 - 1 draw against their League Two hosts.
Dan Easlea, Connor Hayes and Nabil Shariff were rested after the FA Youth Cup victory against Leighton Town in midweek while Sean Calcutt returned for his first start since injuring his foot in a friendly against Grimsby in July.
The home team started strongly with their attacking formation providing problems for the Rushden defence in the early stages as the revised back line settled into the game.
Joe Day saved well at the feet of Marquis in the 23rd minute as the striker looked to take ball around him.
Half Time Millwall 0 Rushden & Diamonds 0
Rushden went ahead in the 59th minute when Lewis Hallford's long diagonal ball found Freshwater whose touch and cross into the box met the run of Wigglesworth who fired home from 8 yards.
Millwall enjoyed a good deal of the pressure as the game entered the final quarter but had to wait until the 88th minute to draw level when Kiernan Mason headed past Day from close range.
There were still chances at either end with Alex Phillips finding space on the edge of the box but putting his shot straight at the Keeper and Hilliard fired just over from 20 yards. At the other end, a Millwall corner was sliced just wide by McDonald.
Full Time Millwall 1 Rushden & Diamonds 1
Afterwards, Manager Paul Driver was pleased with the performance. "After the poor result at QPR last week, this was another tough test for the boys and they did much better. Joe was excellent in goal and made a number of good stops at vital times and the goal was straight of the training ground"
"It's looking tough for us to get through this strong grouping now but I'd have preferred a difficult group to test us and help us gauge where we have got to so far"
Rushden Team: Day (Captain), Evans, McDonald, Cox, Calcutt, Higgins, Hallford, Hilliard, Wigglesworth, Sharpe (Phillips 68), Freshwater.
Subs Not Used: Kirby, Shariff, Hayes, Easlea
