Nathan re-Boote’s Diggle title hopes

Photo: Paul Sterritt

TOP OF THE SHOTS: Diggle’s treble star Nathan Boote.

Diggle 5, Shepley 1
NATHAN Boote bagged a hat-trick as Diggle maintained their ultra-slim hopes of winning the Huddersfield and District League Division One title.

This was a must-win game for Diggle who, only four days earlier, had slipped to a crushing defeat at Newsome.

But at “home” on Churchill playing fields, Diggle reignited their title push with a convincing victory over Shepley.

Diggle manager Richard Devy said: “We are still in with a shout, but we will have to win our remaining four matches to have a chance.

“Even if we finished runner-up, it would still be quite an achievement and an improvement on last season’s fourth.”

Devy’s side were 3-0 up just before the half-hour mark, and secured what was to be an unassailable 4-1 lead before half-time.

Boote opened the scoring for Diggle after 24 minutes when he rounded the Shepley goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an unguarded net.

It was 2-0 less than three minutes later when Matt Taylor’s awareness in the opposition penalty area allowed him to latch onto a loose ball before clinically firing into the back of the net.

Taylor was at it again after 33 minutes with a smartly-struck shot from the edge of the Shepley area, before the visitors scored what turned out to be a consolation strike seven minutes before the break.

Diggle emphasised their superiority just before the break when Boote got his head on the end of a Wayne Broadbent corner to make it 4-1.

And with the minutes ticking away, Boote completed his treble with a close-range header.