Sporting Khalsa 4 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1

Sporting Khalsa moved into the top ten on Saturday with a dominant 4-1 victory helped by a goal in each half from Tounami Sidibe.

It was a lively opening period with the visitors failing to convert their chances in the first five minutes when Ryan Inman and Reuben Wyatt put their efforts over the bar.

But just three minutes later, Khalsa took the lead as Sidibe cut into the box and rolled his effort past keeper George Rose.

Cairo Taylor had a close chance at the end of the first half for the visitors as he received a through ball but Luke Ward blocked his effort at goal.

Two minutes after the restart, Diamonds found an equaliser as Pharrell Anderson ended a solo run into the box with a low shot across goal and into the left-hand corner.

Khalsa bounced back just before the hour-mark as Robbie Bunn received a pass in the middle of the box and smashed his effort into the back of the net to restore their lead.

Chay Tilt almost added to the scoresheet as he smashed a powerful effort against the crossbar in the 64th minute and the hosts’ lead was extended one minute later as Sidibe scored his second of the game with a rebounded header after Tilt’s free-kick hit the post.

With 20 minutes to go, Curvin Ellis was sent on for Khalsa and proved his worth two minutes later as he knocked in a header from James McGrady’s corner.