United had Adam Chapman on the spot as they moved clear at the top of the table with a win over Rushden. Chapman stayed calm and belted home a dramatic penalty winner for The U's after an earlier spot kick miss from James Constable.

United made one change to the side that beat Histon at the weekend with the talismanic Constable replacing the injured Alfie Potter,and it took just  eight minutes for the top scorer to get a sight of goal. The impish Deering slipped a fine ball through  for Constable to run on to inside the box. Fortunately for the Diamonds keeper Dale Roberts had sensed the danger and was quickly off his line to smother the shot before Constable could get a clear sight.

With Jack Midson linking things cleverly in a front two alongside Constable United looked lively in attack and the first quarter of the game was played pretty much in the Diamonds half. Chances weren't quite as easy to come by as possession though with Diamonds sitting deep and solid in defence. The danger was that they could spring forward and cause problems and on 29 that almost found the breakthrough as Rhys Day's weak back header allowed highly rated striker Lee Tomlin to race clear. Luckily for United his mistimed effort rolled gently into the arms of the grateful Ryan Clarke.

Clarke's save from O'Connor on 45 kept United's clean sheet intact at half time, and two minutes into injury time came United's big chance . A free kick from the right was fizzed in low by Sam Deering and former United striker Jefferson Louis had a sly pull at Jake Wright's shirt. It was a definite foul and ref Creighton had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Unfortunately Constable's penalty was fiercely struck but flew over bar and fence and thirty yards into the car park.

Attacking their own fans in a magnificent crowd United had a Midson shot go over the bar on 46 minutes and gradually started to turn up the heat. The one big danger looked to be individual errors, and a rare one from Damian Batt almost let the dangerous Tomlin through on 61 minutes, with Jake Wright's body check on the edge of the area earning him a yellow card and Rushden a free kick which another former U's man Craig Farrell flighted over the top of the bar.

Dannie Bulman hobbled off with what looked like a back problem just after the hour to allow Chapman to slot in alongside Chris Hargreaves in the middle of the park but the game was getting bogged down on a pudding of a pitch which made wing play difficult and narrowed the game into a very compact space.

The home fans raised their voices to try and lift their side but that little spark of inspiration wasn't to be found until the 86th minute when the second penalty came. This time it was Matt Green dragged down by Jamie Stuart  in near identical fashion to the first decision. When Rushden booted the ball away in frustration  Chapman sprinted thirty yards to grab the ball, and there was no doubt who was going to take it. Not much doubt of the outcome either. His shot was deadly accurate and United were three points clear.

There was still time for Matt Green to blaze a decent chance over the bar in injury time but another clean sheet (20 for the season) and Chapman's clean strike had done the trick.

The Yellows now take a break from the league for an FA Trophy quarter final against Kidderminster on Saturday. Top of the league, three points clear and a game in hand plus two ties from Wembley. Top spot in every way.

Att: 7,625

Away: 382

Fifty50 winner: 76404

Report by Chris Williams

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