A win A Win First of the Season

What a great day this was for all that is Rugby. Great Team spirit, camaraderie, support and most of all respect from both sets of players, officials and supporters alike leading to a hard fought battle with both sides playing some superb fifteen man Rugby that DISS just edged out the winners in the end. We have to thank the DISS Under 14 players that stepped up to help make up the numbers as Haverhill were two men short and Diss one at the start, they did far more than just make up the numbers they played their socks off and give DISS RFC heart that we have some great Junior players in the Club that bodes well for the future.

DISS have had a hard start to the season with injuries and numbers of players but over the last couple of months they have been growing in confidence week on week that is letting them play the high calibre of Rugby that they are capable of, the game today was their best game of the season with all players putting their all in even when Haverhill were in the driving seat for parts of the game.

The game started with both sides fighting hard and there wasn’t much to separate the sides for the first 10 mins before DISS started to get the early momentum with some great forward play lead by Burrows storming up the field before being brought down by a great tackle from Haverhill but good support play from Short saw him pick up to score DISS’s first try ably converted by Watson to put DISS 7:0 ahead.

DISS were to carry on having the better of the play with the backs showing what they can do also with some great running Rugby, with the half backs in Watson and Jolly linking well to release the Centres with Soudain and Hutchings making inroads into the centre of the field with some crashing runs, yes James Hutchings in the Centre, who had a storming game, resulting in some good early ball to the wings in Cleverley and Chopra with Chopra grabbing two tries before half time putting DISS 17:0 ahead.

Haverhill regrouped well and with some clever kicking from their fly half started to gain territory despite the herculean effort of DISS’s fullback Griffiths who showed real class and flair to cover this tactic with real maturity by running and kicking the ball back to release the pressure, DISS really suffered when he had to go off after an unfortunate clash of heads and a suspected broken nose, we wish him well and hope the injury isn’t too bad. Despite this Haverhill worked the ball well to score a great try to make the score 17:5 at half time. A special thanks to another great Under 14’s player in George who slotted into fullback really well at this point.

Haverhill came out in the second half with great tenacity and really put DISS under sustained pressure resulting in two break away tries to even the score 17:17 ten minutes into the second half. This was going to now be a real test of DISS’s self-belief, but believe they did. The pack started to work the ball well with Ronayne, Oakley and Bowman controlling the front row well as well as great running and driving in the mauls, Paine and Easton had their best games of the season seeing them getting around the park like loose forwards ably supported by Short, Burrows and Fred in the back row. This possession, that they have so much lacked in previous games, allowed the backs to flourish resulting in Chopra scoring his first hatrick!! 22:17 and six minutes to go, supporters and Coach’s were biting their nails at this point.

Haverhill came back with gusto, their style of Rugby and energy very much the same as DISS which made this such a fantastic game to watch and play in, they attacked hard and came very close to tying the scores but solid DISS tackling and cover play held them at bay before DISS sealed the game with a long distance try from Short, who picked up in his own half and shot off like a Gazel leaving both sets of players in his wake to make the final score of the game to bring DISS home as the winners 27:17. Phew out of breath just remembering the game!

This was a richly deserved win that DISS had to work really, really hard to secure as Haverhill are a good side and we relish the next fixture to see how both these sides grow and mature into great sides I’m sure.

Diss now need to continue improving at this pace to take HOLT on at home in the Norfolk plate semi-final next Sunday. Please make a real effort to get to training on Thursday night to give ourselves the best possible chance to win this game as current holders of the plate! Well done one and all!

Kevin Jolly
Coach