A disappointingly small crowd was in evidence to witness yet another dramatic finish to a game at the Mem. Rovers' penalty shoot-out victory over Leyton Orient secured their Second Round spot against former League Club Rushden and Diamonds.

Despite going down to 9 men at one stage the East London team made things hard for a depleted Rovers team. Paul Trollope was pleased with the performance of his 'patch-work' team and paid tribute to the way they stuck to their guns all the way through to the 'penalty shoot-out'. Orient's Martin Ling was equally proud of his team for taking Rovers right down to the wire.

Meanwhile Rushden & Diamonds have quashed speculation that goalkeeper Paul Bastock could be joining Boston United. Boston boss Tommy Taylor wanted to take the 37-year-old back to the club where he holds the all-time appearance record after playing in more than 600 games. However, the move was held up, as Diamonds were unable to sign a loan keeper before last Thursday's deadline.

Looking at the background to Rovers' opposition Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was formed at the end of the 1991/92 season following a merger between local rivals Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds (formed 1947). Rushden Town FC was founded in 1889 and competed in the Midland and Northants Leagues before joining the United Counties League in 1901.

Apart from a short period in 1956/61, during which the side competed in the Central Alliance, the Russian's remained in the UCL until 1983, winning the Championship on 10 occasions. It was a bold decision to step up into the Southern League Midland Division and for a time it appeared that the Club had over-reached itself, but seven years later it gained promotion to the Southern League Premier division.

However, after finishing in 14th place in its first season the Russian's were relegated to the Midland Division as the outdated Hayden Road Ground failed to meet the required standard for the Premier Division.

Irthlingborough Diamonds FC was formed in 1946 and began playing competitive youth football the following year. After a lengthy association with the Rushden & District Youth and Senior Leagues, the club moved into the Kettering Amateur League in 1960 before joining the United Counties League 4 years later.

In 1967 the Diamonds won the Division 2 title and was promoted into Division 1 where they remained until 1982. The Championship was won on 4 occasions - the last of these being in 1982/83, and foremost among other notable achievements were exciting FA Vase runs which took the Diamonds to the semi-finals in 1980/81 and in 1983/84.

Both clubs achieved relative success before the pre-merger but by 1991 Irthlingborough was suffering diminished fortunes compared with the highly successful 70's & 80, and an approach was made to a prominent local business man, Max Griggs, concerning a possible sponsorship package.

After much consideration, Max Griggs recognised the problems being experienced by both Rushden and Irthlingborough and deliberations and discussions commenced regarding the merger of the 2 clubs. Despite reservations from various quarters the merger was eventually agreed and Irthlingborough's Nene Park, was brought up to the required standards.

The newly formed club would kick off their first campaign in the Beazer Homes League Midland Division, in which Rushden Town had finished 8th in the 1991/92 season. The
1993/94 season saw promotion to the Beazer Homes League Premier Division, with 98 points from 42 games, losing just 2 of them.

The 1995/96 season saw the Diamonds secure a further promotion to the Vauxhall Conference. This wasn't their only achievement of the season, as the side, which was only three and a half years old, reached the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup, before losing 3-1 to Cardiff City. Darren Collins was the club's top scorer, and the highest scorer in non-league football, with a brilliant 40 goals in 55 games.

At the start of 2000/01 Coach Brian Talbot made his intentions clear by spending almost £300,00 on Morecambe's Justin Jackson and Duane Darby from Second Division Notts County. It paid dividends as the Northamptonshire club won the Nationwide Conference title from Yeovil Town.

Once in the League Diamonds continued their climb. A 6th place finish in their first season was followed by the Championship in 2002/03. 2003/04 proved to be a real turning point for the Diamonds as they experienced their first ever relegation, finishing in 22nd place in the Nationwide League Division Two.

During their final two seasons in the Football League, Rushden & Diamonds enjoyed a fierce rivalry with fellow Northamptonshire club Northampton Town. The Diamonds won one encounter and Northampton won the other three. Since relegation back to the non-league the club has renewed their old rivalry with near-neighbours Kettering Town.

In July 2006 Helen Thompson became chairman of Rushden and Diamonds FC. In November 2006, the club was taken over by former Peterborough United vice-chairman Keith Cousins. In December 2006, former Farnborough and Stevenage manager Graham Westley was appointed as Rushden & Diamonds manager, with the aim of getting the club out of the relegation battle and build towards promotion back into the football league.

After a seven-game unbeaten run, which featured five wins and two draws, Graham Westley was relieved of his duties on 24 February 2007 for unknown reasons. Two days later it was announced that former Weymouth manager Garry Hill would be Westley's replacement.

In their First Round tie in this season's FA Cup, striker Simeon Jackson grabbed a brace as the Diamonds caused a shock by beating Macclesfield 3-1. The 20-year-old striker, who had trials at Manchester United two years ago, took his tally to 13 for the season as League Two Macclesfield were slayed in spectacular fashion.

Macclesfield are just 19 places above Rushden and the gap in class never materialised thanks largely to the deadly finishing of Jackson. The Jamaican-born striker opened the scoring after only seven minutes bundling in Craig McAllister's low cross via the crossbar.

Macclesfield should have levelled on 12 minutes but Martin Gritton fired agonisingly wide when it seemed easier to score, and in first-half stoppage time, they were left with a mountain to climb as Jon Challinor headed home an Andy Burgess short corner to put clear daylight between the teams.

Rushden were in dreamland on 57 minutes as the impressive Burgess nicked the ball in midfield and played in Jackson, who rocketed the ball home from a tight angle. Simon Wiles and Gritton combined to give Macclesfield a much-needed lifeline on 75 minutes, with the latter heading home a right wing cross.

But for all their possession and territory - Macclesfield were unable to find further goals - becoming the only Football League side to suffer a non-league giantkilling on FA Cup first round day.

Diamonds League form is poor this season, they are currently lying in 17th spot in the Blue Square League with just 5 wins from their 20 games. However Rovers should be very wary of their opposition as their record at home to Diamonds is appalling, having won 1 and lost 3 of the four games played in Bristol.

The prospect of another Cup run would have the fans at the Mem watering at the mouth and pouring through the gates. To get through to challenge the Premiership and Championship teams Paul Trollope's team may need to show the same determination they displayed on Tuesday night.

Written by Gerry Prewett