Team: 1. Mike Moore; 2. Pete Jones; 3. Murray Hill; 4. Jake Jacobs; 5. Ryan Hewitt; 6. Lee Rainford; 7. Mark Jackson; 8. Chris Moore; 9. Jeff Whittaker; 10. Wayne Broadbent; 11. Gareth Chew; 12. Matt P Taylor; 13. Lee Clarke; 14.

Danny Cheetham; 15. Bev Mayall

Report: Diggle produced their most complete performance of the season to thoroughly deserve their 4-0 win over our friends at Meltham, in a competitive and skillful match.

Diggle's performance, warmly and honestly commented upon in the Meltham match report, showed exactly what Diggle hope to be capable of over the full season.  Their play was swift, accurate, disciplined and constant - much the opposite of the tepid performance the same bunch of players had produced a week earlier against Heywood.

Without any disrespect to a decent Meltham side, the result of this match was never really in doubt right from the start.  Diggle missed 2 early chances, both of which fell to Chris Moore, either or both of which should have been converted.  However, the home side didn't have long to wait for their opening goal, which fell to Jeff Whittaker, who profitted when Gareth Chew's pass down the left side of the Meltham defence left Whittaker the less than simple task of cutting inside his marker, before sliding a shot into the bottom left of the Meltham goal.

Meltham should have equalised shortly afterwards but Mike Moore thwarted the very able Meltham striker in a one on one situation.  This had been caused partly by the skill of the Meltham forward and partly by some 'high line/tightrope' defending again by Diggle - the cause of much trouble last week.

Diggle added number 2 on the half hour mark when unselfish play from Whittaker created a relatively simple chance for Moore to score from close range.

Meltham had a half chance in the Diggle box, but that was that from then on in terms of Meltham being a threat on goal.

Just before the half time, Chris Moore added his second, and Diggle's third, to complete a rousing first half performance.

The second period wasn't all plain sailing for Diggle as, for the first 15 minutes, they tended to overplay and overcomplicate, leading to several easily snuffed out moves.  Meltham continued to tackle and press, and credit to them they never gave up despite rarely threatening Mike Moore's goal - apart from the odd corner or spear-like throw ins.

Diggle wrapped up the match after the hour mark when Moore completed a very well deserved hat trick.

This was an extremely pleasing display from Diggle and is definitely the

standard to aim for.   The defence looked assured and organised - apart from

early in the first half and their tendancy to try and defend on the halfway line (if not defend in the Meltham half).  All 4 defenders more than played their part, with Jones and Hill being instrumental in many of Diggle's attacking moves.

The midfield was a pleasure to watch, with a combination of skill, effort and discipline being very evident.  Jacobs and Jackson provided, easily, their best performances since their summer switch from Uppermill.  Both (having historically being labelled as lazy off the ball and wasteful/extravagant on the ball) produced non stop displays, characterised with great vision in spotting opportunities, great ball skills and the type of determination to shut down opponents that all great sides need.

Chew, erratic so far this season, was outstanding in the vision of his play.

Broadbent was relentless down the right wing and barely stopped for breath all afternoon.

Moore and Whittaker up front, after a rocky start to the match, conjured up

4 goals between them and began to show that maybe they are a long term combination for Diggle.  However, of all places in the squad, up front is the most hotly contested and therefore it leaves niether player with much room for complacency.  Today they more than justified their shirts.

Meltham were soundly beaten, but they didn't play badly themselves - they just caught Diggle on a good day.

Onwards...........