The day started badly as the current inform midfielder Damien Morrison had work issues and couldn’t play.

I thought Garswood were very good for the first twenty and we couldn’t get near them so we had to change our shape which was a credit to them, however once we did change we had the better of the first half latter stages.

The unfortunate thing was that we currently have an injury depleted squad and at half time had 3 casualties - Jace Broom couldn’t carry on, Lee Morris was heavily strapped but stayed on for obvious reasons and captain Dignan had a torn calf.  Given the physical and competitive nature of the game we left Scott on to win the midfield aerial battle and protect the centre backs.

Probably a draw would have been a fair result but the last minute winner left us still in for a shout for runners up.

I said four weeks ago that we needed everybody to be available for all the forthcoming games but unfortunately with influential senior players currently out with long term injuries on top of work commitments, which I can understand, it’s not really surprising we are struggling in the final stages of the season.

Two late work calls in the afternoon meant that two of our subs consisted of a 16 year old with no first team experience and another youngster with limited first team experience and with Lee only able to do the first our only other regular first team player was used at half time - not ideal when away at Gamesley on a windy, hard pitch midweek. I know it’s the same for most teams at the moment but as we are still in with a shout for runners up we haven’t really been able to experiment with players much. We were thankful Sam Halligan was available again, he’s played once in 6 weeks after recovering from a serious ankle injury and on both occasions demonstrated what’s required even on hard surfaces.

I thought there was always a goal in us but conceding early into the second half made life very difficult and frustration can creep into the game. Jon and I probably tried everything we could with the options we had but this might have been a little too late and I agree that the conditions were probably the worst we’ve played in apart from Denton away - however it’s the same for both sides.

I think our naivety at delivering the final ball didn’t help because it’s one of those games where anything hit short can hurt you whereas a threatening delivery asks more questions and may also lead to defensive blunders.

Billinge have requested a 2 o clock kick off Saturday, as they are all Wigan supporters, and it’s our well earned end of season drink after the game.

Great start to the game with a very good goal finally from a set play!

It was pleasing that we set a high tempo and controlled the game for long periods of the game so I didn’t have to change our shape and a bonus to see the goals being spread with defenders getting forward and on to the score sheet.

Dan Whelan has been superb recently at right back improving each week defensively and now contributing to our forward play.  Damo is finishing the season strongly and a great display from Sam who demonstrated how not to panic or lose the ball in midfield. 

We might not have been as entertaining as the game on TV tonight but an all round decent display from us.