RUSHDEN and Diamonds will be expecting to pack a punch when they look to give York City another Conference KitKat Crescent headache tonight.

Ex-professional boxer, and former York City trainee, Curtis Woodhouse currently plies his trade for Diamonds and will hoping to land a knock-out blow when he returns to the Minster city.

The Driffield-born midfielder, who has also racked up more than 250 appearances at clubs including Birmingham and Sheffield United, has netted twice in 12 starts since joining the club in November after giving up the boxing game.

And he's not the only Rushden player with York connections.

Defender Jason Goodliffe, who made 13 appearances for City while on loan at KitKat Crescent in the middle of the season, signed for the Diamonds after being released by Stevenage on transfer deadline day.

The popular centre-back made a big impression while at City for his solid, no-nonsense defending and tough tackling.

So far, he has played eight times for his new side, but was on the bench during Rushden and Diamonds' 3-2 defeat to Southport on Saturday - their first home loss since November.

The Diamonds are bossed by former Weymouth manager Garry Hill, who joined the club in February following the departure of Graham Westley after just two months in charge.

His arrival has coincided with Diamonds embarking on a useful run of form, with Saturday's Southport defeat only their second since early February.

That has seen the club occupy a comfortable 12th place in the Conference table, but Diamonds are full of threat.

They have won six times on their travels this season, and have scalped league high-fliers Oxford as well as newly-crowned Conference champions Dagenham and Redbridge.

Their main threat comes from striker, and top scorer, Simeon Jackson, who has found the net on 16 occasions this term.

But when the two sides first met at Rushden's Nene Park, in late August, it was Clayton Donaldson's goal four minutes into the second-half which handed a City a valuable 1-0 win.

Now the Diamonds will be the ones looking to land the powerful blow.


City v Rushden match points

Compiled by David Batters

Rushden have made two previous visits both in the Football League.

On the opening day of the 2001/02 season they played their first ever game in the League when they beat City 1-0 at Bootham Crescent.

The other meeting in the following campaign ended 0-0. City's line-up then on September 14, 2002 was: Fettis, Edmondson, Smith, Brass, Hobson, Cowan, Brackstone, Bullock, Mathie (Yalcin), Nogan (Rogeiro), Duffield.

One player to have represented both clubs is Ray Warburton.

It happened on April 10

1948: A 3-2 home win over Stockport County with the scorers Bert Brenen, Sid Storey and Jimmy Rudd in front of 7,511. City were mid-table in Division Three North.

1954: Centre-half Alan Stewart scored his only goal for the club in 231 appearances in a 1-1 home draw against Halifax Town. The crowd was 3,860 and City were in the lower reaches of the Northern Section.

1971: City extended their unbeaten run to 14 games when they beat Hartlepool 4-0 at home with Barry Swallow, Kevin McMahon, Chris Topping and Paul Aimson the men on the mark. The crowd was 7,407 and City were in the top four of the Fourth.

1993: In a top of Division Three (League Two) clash, third-placed City beat leaders Cardiff City 3-1 at home in front of 6,568. Marksmen were Jon McCarthy, Ian Blackstone and Nigel Pepper.

1999: City ended a run of eight home games without a win when they beat Millwall 2-1 with late goals from Rodney Rowe and player-manager Neil Thompson. The attendance was 2,571.