Peaks happy with a point gained by Diamonds

Diamonds’ hopes of picking up another victory were hit after 24 minutes when midfielder Joe Curtis was shown a straight red card after catching Mike Armstrong with his leading arm in an aerial challenge.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Diamonds created the better openings in the remainder of the game and they eventually claimed another point to keep them four clear of the chasing pack in the race for the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South play-off places.

And while he was slightly disappointed that his team couldn’t find a goal, manager Peaks was more than happy with the final outcome under the circumstances.

“We have had to play for 65 minutes with 10 men so you’d have to say it is a point gained,” the Diamonds boss said.

“Having said that, on the balance of play we probably could have got more from it.

“I was really pleased with the performance, we just weren’t clinical enough in the final third.

“To be honest, I think Joe did lead with his elbow.

“I don’t believe for a minute that it was malicious because he’s not that sort of lad.

“But the referee was right on top of it and I am not going to make an argument against it.

“It put us in a difficult position and it was a long time to play with 10 men on a boggy pitch.

“But we kept the shape with two up front because we wanted to try to stay positive and, in the end, I don’t think Matt Finlay has had a save to make.

“I am very proud of the players because they have put a real shift in and got something from it.

“And if we’d had 11 men on the pitch for the whole game, I am confident we would have won.”

Diamonds are back in action next weekend when they head to Kidsgrove Athletic, the team who ended Peaks’ team’s 19-match unbeaten run when they won 5-2 at the Dog & Duck last month.