This was always going to be a difficult game for a number of reasons......
1. Lack of football
2. Diggle 3rds had beaten our opponents the previous week in a top of the table clash and so pride and Numpty comments were to be at stake.
3. Westend are in the QF’s and gunning for promotion because they have proved to be a decent team
4. We had a few players missing
Well the game kicked off with both teams competing well but neither really taking control for the first 15 minutes. Diggle struggled to play some of the fluent football we’re capable of however we did start to make the better of the chances. Matt Taylor had a couple of efforts that went close and the Westend keeper did his best to impersonate Roy Carrolls (Man U v Spurs) dubious goal that was save...... to Taylor’s annoyance.
Diggle’s first goal came courtesy of some neat football down the right hand side that found Glynn Partington take on the left back, cut into the penalty box to place a nice ball across the 6 yard box that eluded the keeper and defenders for Leland Mayall to place home. 1-0. Westend tried to push forward for an equaliser but apart from a couple of half chances never really troubled the Diggle goal.
With a couple of minutes to go to half time Diggle’s second goal came. Chris Thornton played a lovely cross field ball that found Leland with plenty of space on the left, he played a far post cross that was headed back across goal where young Ryan Fitton was waiting to fire the ball into the back of the net. 2-0 Half time.
Half time team talk was that Diggle had so much more to offer. We weren’t making enough right decisions and from this we were creating our own pressures. It was a matter of keeping things simple, play the easy option and get goal side when we don’t have the ball. And as we have said many times this season the next goal was critical.
And so the next goal came minutes after the restart and it was Diggle’s 3rd which came. Kieron put a cross into the Westend box and as Taylor made an effort to head the ball goal ward, a blatant push was made on him by one of the defenders...penalty
Leland Mayall stepped up and placed his 15th goal of the season into the bottom right hand corner...the keeper had made a very good attempt to save this.
The game then opened up with Westend having nothing to lose and pressing forward which created space and opportunities for Diggle to add to their score line. As it was a couple of great saves from Ben kept Diggle’s clean sheet and a bit of wayward finishing meant the score stayed at 3-0 and The Diggle marching into the semi-finals.
Overview: Not one of our best performances but the result was never really in danger. Westend defensively were well organised and had a couple of tidy midfield players who wanted to play. They would hold their own in our league... if they win promotion. We wish them the best but not at the expense of our 3rds winning the title.
Chris Thornton was a rock today at the back and cleared most that came his way. Ben Pollard’s second half performance in goal was top drawer with a couple of class saves. Kieron Mayall was always a threat down the left flank and his energy and directness was a key part of Diggle’s forward play. Collectively the performance was enough but we know that we each could raise our game another 30%
Next game...........another Cup match!
Match report: By Leland Mayall
