Fun in the snow!

The Diss players travelled to face Crusaders for the first time in far
from ideal conditions. With snow on the ground, an icy chill in the air
and the lines barely visible, all of the players deserve enormous credit
for playing with such enthusiasm. The game was played in excellent
spirit, with Aaron and Sam playing for the opposition in the first half;
Leo, Corey, Lewis and Dom all played for Crusaders after half-time.

With handling difficult, play was dominated by a combination of strong
forward play and powerful individual running. There were tries in the
first half for Toby, Harry and, with their first scores for the club,
Luke and Corey. Luke’s effort owed much to him ‘being on hand’ and even
more to an unselfish offload by Tyler. Corey’s try was straight from the
training ground as he and Chris powered over together from short range
after several individual efforts had been repulsed; it was a delight to
see. Harry scored the only conversion of the half, although a superb
strike by Dom only narrowly shaved the post.
(HT 0-22)

Cold hands, injuries and great tenacity by Crusaders meant that only
two further tries were scored. Wilson crossed when Tyler was held up
and, with probably the move of the match, Sam dived in at the corner
following good work by the forwards and terrific handling by the full
back line. (FT 0-32)

There were good performances across the pitch, including a very
understanding approach by the referee. JJ put in a very accomplished
first appearance for the club and Chris and Thomas put in two more big
shifts. In difficult conditions for handling, the wingers (Luke, Jack
and Joe) played really well and every Crusaders restart was handled
impeccably. However for his high energy game and for taking onto the
pitch so many of the things learnt in training (and scoring his first
try!) Corey thoroughly deserved his award ‘Player of the Day’.

Finally, it was good to play at a new venue against a new team and
especially good to play at such a friendly club.