Team (v Uppermill):  1. Ryan Hewitt; 2. Wayne Broadbent; 3. Neil Hamilton; 4. Chris Moore; 5. Lee Rainford; 6. Danny Cheetham; 7. Jake Jacobs; 8. Keiron Mayall; 9. Jeff Whittaker; 10. Danny Tomlinson; 11. Ian Swallow; 12. Gary Stott-Holt.

Quote: "You see me smile and that's at least one nil to me"  (Shack, 'Criticised')

Report: Isn't it funny how you can find the energy to get up at 6.30am on a Sunday to write a report when you are reporting on another 3 straight wins? Really strange that!  However, 3 straight wins it is and here is the report. 

Part way through the 'silly season' and things couldn't be going better - in terms of results if nothing else.  The 'silly season' is the month of April when almost half the required league games are squeezed into that one month.  It is also the month when injuries, suspensions, holidays, stag do's (more of that later), begin to take their toll and some strange results can begin to emerge.   Diggle, like all other teams one would imagine, have moved from full squad, to weaker squad, to 'down to the bare bones' to, er, down to the DNA of the bones.  It becomes increasingly difficult to field a full 11 players, never mind a full strength team.

Diggle 5 - 1 Moldgreen: This week's report takes us back to the 5-1 home win over Moldgreen - opponents we've not faced for a long time.  Diggle called upon all their player resources to field a team, and despite the absentees almost outnumbering the attendees, Diggle could have no real complaints about the calibre of players available for this game.  The depth of that calibre is credit to the loyalty and flexibility of the playing staff and credit (if one may) to the Managers at Diggle who work hard to compile squads of depth and quality.

Diggle's victory over Moldgreen was more or less nailed on in the opening 5 minutes as the home side raced into a 2-0 lead.  Diggle's lead was courtesy of a strike duo that is rapidly blossoming and has the potential to become one of the most feared partnerships in the whole league.  Strike partners Jeff Whittaker and Keiron Mayall helped themselves to a goal each and in the process each had laid on a goal for the other player.  The goals themselves were fairly unremarkable - catching their opponents flatfooted on each occasion on the edge of the Moldgreen area.

Mayall - yet another in the Mayall-Diggle dynasty - has emerged from the wilderness as a much more mature and direct player.  Keiron has always had a brilliant attitude and also plenty of ability - particularly pace - but has suffered from many of the woes that afflict young players: poor judgment, poor positional sense, poor consistency.  The 'new' Keiron is direct, hard working, unselfish, his pass selection is much better, brave, fit, and, arguably most importantly, full of goals.

Whittaker has been superb throughout the season, and has been at the forefront of most of the success that the first team have had.  Indeed, without Whittaker, Diggle would not be the same proposition.  Whittaker's talent lies in his infectious enthusiasm on and off the field, his unquenchable thirst for hard work, his pace, trickery, his cheek and wit, and his goal-return.  However, the scary thing is that he is nowhere near full effectiveness as a player - bear with me on this while I explain. 

Jeff is a player who you must leave to his own devices and you must accept a large dose of failure and frustration in his game - why? Jeff is a soloist, he is wrapped up in his own contribution to the game, and the other players are just around for company, and also a lift to and from the game.  This is not a criticism.  Jeff will engineer opportunities on his own; he will wriggle through gaps that don't exist; he will regularly create and score goals from nothing and with no help.  He takes gambles, he forces defenders to face their own goal and forces defenders into difficult decisions.  He is the type of player that fans like to watch and defenders hate to face.  Therefore, in benefitting from his directness, Diggle have to accept that he will often over play a situation and fail to play the safe pass.  The best players are often the most annoying.  However, in Whittaker's case, we should accept his faults for the overall benefit he brings.

In terms of his overall effectiveness, he continues to disappoint. The annoying thing is, with a tiny couple of tweaks to his game, he would get tackled less, hurt less, use less energy and score more goals.  Jeff doesn't need to change his game - just let it evolve, be more aware of when to pass the ball, more aware of taming his own frustrations on the pitch and less resistant to advice.  Advice is given to help, not to criticise.

Back to the game, Moldgreen reduced the arrears on the 15 minute mark - a dreadful goal from a defensive perspective, but a goal coming from Moldgreen's 2 best players by some distance: their huge number 9 and their tiny number 11.

Diggle ended the half 4-1 to the good: the Chuckle Brothers grabbing another goal each.

The game ended 5-1 (Wayne Broadbent scoring a solo goal in the last minute) to Diggle.  This could have been much more of a rout as Diggle set up camp in the Molgreen half.  We can live with 5-1.  As well as Paul and Barry Chuckle, who excelled, Tomlinson, Broadbent and Jacobs also showed their value to the side.

Diggle 2 - 1 Shepley: if the Moldgreen performance was slick and easy on the eye, this victory was sticky and painful to watch.  Diggle had to work extremely hard to pull off this win.  This was a halfway house between Diggle's appalling effort away at Shepley (2 nil to Shepley) and Diggle's demolition of Shepley in the Barlow Cup just before Xmas.

Diggle benefitted from another early goal start in this match, but they struggled to get into any rhythm and before long Shepley had equalised with a trademark Diggle failing: a defence pushed too high up the field and no reaction from defenders to the predictable long ball over the defence.

Diggle were reminded at half time that Shepley were not the sort of side to politely stand by and let us win.  Diggle were visibly better in the second period but had to wait until the 70th minute for their winner - Whittaker battling hard to square the ball across the Shepley six yard box for Keiron Mayall to scuff the ball home.

Diggle were the better side but their play was predictable and they struggled to puncture the well organised Shepley defence.  Shepley threatened only rarely, but towards the end of the game a long throw in and header towards goal forced Diggle Keeper into a brilliant save, sharp down to his left.

A win - but only just.

Uppermill 0 - 2 Diggle:  it's not often that you can say this, but this was a remarkably comfortable win for Diggle over their close neighbours, wrapping up a clean sweep for Diggle in the two Diggle v Mill matches this season.

If Diggle had been down to the DNA in previous matches, they were down to single celled amoeba for this one.  The list of absentees was quite remarkable and the reasons quite different - but the reasons fully reveal why Diggle are close to success, but still far from success: Moore (cricket), McWatt (Stag do), Jones (Stag do), Martin (Stag do), Jackson (banned), Hill (banned), Mayall (Holiday), Chew (playing elsewhere).  Throw into the mix that regular centre back, Ryan Hewitt, had to go in goal and other players were carrying silly season injuries and Diggle had every reason to feel sorry for themselves.  However, the Diggle personnel conducted themselves impeccably and delivered a disciplined and thorough performance to pretty much overwhelm their opponents.

In fact, had that same level of discipline and maturity been shown in certain other matches (something the Manager had been calling for throughout the season) then Diggle's season would have been so much the better for it.  For those with memories long enough, Diggle's self destruct indiscipline had the been the causes of the following results: Hepworth (away) 2-2, Shepley (away) 2 - 0 loss, Marsden (away, cup) 4-3 loss and Honley (home, cup) 2-1 loss.  Several players decided that they knew better, and we have paid for that indiscpline.  The Manager isn't always right - but he's not often wrong.

Sometimes body language tells its own tale and so it was in this game. Diggle bounced on to the pitch and the very early minutes showed them to be alert, lively and keen to take the game to Uppermill.  Mill, by comparison, had that look of a side who really didn't want to be on the pitch and their minds seemed elsewhere.

However, for all Diggle's mental superiority, they found Mill very stubborn opponents to breakdown, plus they found a referee who seemed reluctant to use his whilstle - especially when Diggle felt that they should have had decisions in their favour.

The early stages set the pattern for the game.  Diggle forced Mill back into their own half and Mill's only attempts at goal came from set piece efforts.  For all Diggle's territorial control they rarely troubled Mill's ever impressive keeper, Alan Scorer.  Diggle's main failings were two-fold: long ball's were predictable and naïve (straight down the middle of the Mill defence where their 2 competant centre backs dealt with long, straight balls with ease), and Diggle's play in the final third was over-elaborate and ill judged, as they struggled to play with their heads up and to choose the 'right' pass.

Diggle enjoyed their most productive work down their left hand side, particularly with Whittaker drifting across the Mill back line.  However, Whittaker's efforts were unrewarded by the unusually unsympathetic referee who seemed oblivious to some of the Mill tackles - particularly the one by Flub part way through the half which should have brought Diggle a penalty.

Diggle eventually took the lead on 40 minutes and it was a pleasure to see Diggle score such a scrappy goal.  The goal came from a Diggle corner that landed in the Mill penalty box, and the proverbial scrap for the ball arose.  A couple of Diggle efforts were saved by Mill, until the ball fell to Keiron Mayall, 8 yards out, and the striker dutifully drove the ball home to give Diggle the lead.  The goal was pleasing as it has long been a failing of Diggle that we seem unable to score from half chances at set pieces.

Half time - 1 - 0 to Diggle.  At the break, Diggle were challenged to improve.  Their Manager hadn't been impressed by the self congratulation of the players as they left the field, and the Manager reminded his troops that they had to improve their pass selection, their work rate off the ball and also the predictability of some of their play.

Diggle responded in the right way and the pattern of territorial control by Diggle soon re-emerged as the second half began.

Diggle established a 2 goal lead on the 55 minute mark, and, to be fair, what a goal it was.  Keiron Mayall was the goalscorer and he took all the plaudits for such an individual effort.  Mayall found himself pinned to the Uppermill right touchline following a Diggle clearance.  Mayall wriggled round his marker and, ten yards in from the touchline and thirty yards from goal, spotted the Mill keeper off his line.  Mayall showed great vision and control to hoist the ball over the keeper into the top left corner of the Mill goal.  A brilliant goal at any level of football.

Mayall was denied a hat trick on the hour mark when he dispossessed a Mill defender in his own penalty box, before crashing home a fierce drive into the bottom right of the Mill goal.  Only the referee knew the reason for the goal being cancelled out.

Mill made a flurry of substitutions and positional changes, but they couldn't alter the flow of the game.  As in the first half, Mill's only attempts on goal were from free kicks from wide positions.  To be fair, Mill won most of the attacking headers from those free kicks, but as good as the headed contact often was, they couldn't get anything on target.  Mill, literally, did not create a shot on target from open play.  This was disappointing considering they were facing a stand-in goalkeeper who was nursing a hamstring injury.

As the game inched towards a conclusion Diggle forged more and more openings - the best one being another solo-created effort from Whittaker which brought a magnificent diving save from Mill keeper Scorer.

Final whistle - 2-0 to Diggle.

This was a very pleasing Diggle display and every single player made a valid contribution, pretty much each player winning his personal battle with his opposite number from Mill.  Defensively Diggle were very sound and rarely, if ever, looked in trouble - albeit, at times, Diggle showed too much of a tendancy to go to sleep when the ball was out of play.  In midfield skipper Danny Tomlinson stood out head and shoulders above everyone else.  The evergreen Tomlinson looked fitter and faster than anyone else, used the ball most wisely and never lost a tackle or header.  Add into the mix his enthusiasm and leadership and you have an almost complete performance.  Tomlinson was ably assisted by Jake Jacobs who has played his way back into some sparkling form and is truly a firm feature in this Diggle side.  Jacobs - with still more improvement to follow - showed composure on the ball, a willingness to support his strikers and to say he was playing against his mates at his former club, he showed maturity and discipline.

Diggle's wide players - Chris Moore and Ian Swallow played valuable supporting roles.  Moore showed that he can play to team orders as he devoted himself to protecting his full back, and also showed considerable common sense in his use of the ball.  Very pleasing.  Swallow, enjoying his first start for the first team, work hard throughout and in the first half gave his full back a tough time.

Up front Whittaker and Mayall did more than enough to win their personal battles and on this occasion it was Mayall who took the glory with his two goals.

Mill were curiously poor and offered very little.  Their usual talisman, Bobby Greenwood, was surprisingly quiet and that was representative of Mill's 'we'd rather be somewhere else' approach.

Well done Diggle!