Peaks pleased with a winning start to the year for Diamonds

A topsy-turvy game saw Diamonds fall behind to a goal from former Hayden Road man Joe Curtis before Nabil Shariff levelled and Nathan Hicks put them in front after the break.

Dylan Wilson drew the hosts level but Zack Reynolds’ first goal for Diamonds and a Liam Dolman effort seemingly wrapped up the points.

But they were given a nervous final few minutes when Ben Toseland pulled another back for the home side.

However, Peaks’ team saw things out for a return to winning ways as they moved back to within five points of the play-off places in the BetVictor Southern League Premier Central.

“Any win on the road in this league is always hard to come by,” the Diamonds boss said.

“St Ives aren’t having the best of seasons but they are always a difficult team to play against and they are always tough battles with them so I am delighted we have got the three points.

“I thought we made it hard work for ourselves at times if I am honest but, overall, I am happy.

“It was important to start the year with a win but it was never going to be easy.

“We have got a tough month with a lot of games so it’s nice to get it under way with three points.

“I am not bothered if we don’t always play brilliant football, it’s about getting results.

“We did play well at times but we let ourselves down at certain times, which made it a lot closer than it should have been.

“But credit to the lads because they went a goal down and came back.”

Peaks handed a debut to frontman Greg Kaziboni after he joined Diamonds on an initial one-month loan deal from league leaders Tamworth.

And the manager was pleased with what he saw from the new arrival.

“Greg was good, he did exactly what I expected him to do,” Peaks added.

“The move had been on the cards for a little while. We have got a busy month so we have taken him for that initially and then we will look at it and speak to Tamworth about it.

“He gives us something a bit different, he has a lot of quality and he started really well for us.

“He gave a good account of himself and he looked a threat throughout."