RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS 3, SHAKERS 0: Those deluded individuals who are convinced that Bury Football Club are safe from relegation to the Nationwide Conference should have been at Nene Park, Irthlingborough on Tuesday evening.

They would have been forced to seriously re-evaluate their optimistic outlook.

With 13 games to go before the end of a fast-collapsing season, there are battles to be fought and worryingly some Shakers players don't appear to have the heart for it.

That can be the only conclusion after watching a first half display that will linger long in the memory of anyone who saw it . . . for all the wrong reasons.

With a squad decimated through injury and enforced transfers, the last thing beleagured boss Graham Barrow needs now is a crop of players feeling sorry for themselves.

He was looking for a big response from his side after the weekend's dismal home defeat by Mansfield Town, but he didn't get one, at least not until the game was effectively over as a contest.

Outplayed, out-thought and, unforgiveably, outfought, they made a Rushden side eight points worse off look formidable opponents.

At the end of the disastrous 45 minutes the Shakers were 3-0 down and but for some splendid goalkeeping from Andy Marriott it could have been more.

"I said Saturday's performance was inept but that wasn't much better," Barrow declared.

"It's a huge disappointment because I was expecting a big improvement.

"We needed a Tuesday game this week and Rushden is a great place to play football and if some players haven't got the appetite for a match like this they've got problems.

"That is the biggest worry, one or two didn't look up for it, especially in the first half."

Punchless up front and frequently overrun in midfield, the surprise was that the home side took 29 minutes to open their account when hesitancy in defence allowed the Diamonds' on-loan striker Billy Sharp to stab the ball home from close range following a corner kick.

Sharp had already given Bury's makeshift back line something to think about in the fifth minute by striking the post with superb shot from 20 yards, two minutes prior to that Marriott was forced into a marvellous full-length save when Andy Burgess tried his luck from 25 yards.

It would have been something of an achievement had Barrow's men gone in only one goal down at the interval, but two goals in the space of two minutes at the end of the half put paid to that.

Defender Robert Gier reacted first at a corner to divert David Bell's flag kick through a forest of legs to double his side's advantage, then Bell effectively put the game out of Bury's reach with a stunning 30-yard piledriver that rocketed into the top corner giving Marriott no chance.

From then on the only way the Shakers were going to avoid defeat was if the frequent snow flurries blowing across the Northamptonshire countryside turned to a full blown blizzard, forcing an abandonment.

But a spirited and impressive Rushden side wouldn't have deserved that and, for that matter, their opponents didn't deserve to be let off the hook.

After what must have been an "interesting' half-time team talk, ineffective on-loan Blackburn midfielder Gary Harkins was replaced by Simon Whaley, who, along with Jon Newby, was one of the few outfield players to do himself justice.

There was an improved display from the Gigg Lane men after the interval but that was probably down to the fact that the home side took their foot off the throttle and they couldn't have got much worse, in fact the second half was always going to be a damage limitation job at best.

But for all their increased possession they never seriously threatened the Rushden goal and young on-loan Coventry City keeper Scott Shearer won't have many easier nights.

Meanwhile, the Diamonds, who were playing in front of their lowest Football League crowd of 1,803, still had their moments when they went forward.

Sharp had a goal disallowed for offside midway through the half and almost added a second with a lobbed effort over Marriott while Bury's loan striker Bas Savage never got going throughout another disappointing ninety minutes.

To make matters worse, skipper Dave Challinor picked up a fifth booking of the season on the night and will now miss the crucial home clash against fellow-strugglers Cambridge United.

"You always know centre-haves will pick up bans," Barrow added.

"Dave wears his heart on his sleeve and always has a go, you have to expect it.

"But this one could have come at a better time though, that will be a big game a week on Saturday."

Before that game there's the small matter of Saturday's trip to in-form, promotion-chasing Southend.

A tenfold increase in effort and application will be needed at Roots Hall to avoid another crushing reverse.

PHIL THORP