North Walsham 34 V 24 Diss

For a number of seasons now the Diss Under 14’s have been gradually closing the gap on North Walsham. Expectations were therefore very high on Sunday as both teams met for the second time this season. An earlier encounter at the Norfolk Tens had resulted in a drawn game that certainly highlighted the belief amongst the coaches that the ability between the sides had narrowed dramatically. North Walsham adapted well to the Windy conditions and capitalised on a series of poor handling errors from the Diss three quarters. Diss certainly produced enough clean possession from which to attack the Walsham line but poor decision making, a lack of precision and poor discipline gave Walsham possession from which they scored five unanswered tries. When Diss attacked the Walsham line handling errors proved costly. Archie Ryder, Finlay Martin and Josh Hayhoe strived manfully to stem the tide and reignite the Diss rear-guard. Diss immediately responded after the break and following an aggressive and direct run from Josh Hayhoe possession was moved at pace setting up Joe Jermy to score an unconverted try out wide. The catalyst for a total Diss revival stemmed from a controversial Walsham try against the run of play. Forwards and backs now combined to pressure the home side at every opportunity. Owen Davies broke clear following a typical Isaac Powell and Kenny Sayers charge to narrow the gap. Diss now took complete control and attacked the Walsham line at every opportunity. Two further tries were scored by Ben Waters to close the gap to ten points. A harsh lesson learnt on the day. Diss were certainly the match for Walsham across all phases and should be proud of their response in the second half. Josh Hayhoe was noted for the metres gained by him in possession and the Bartrums man of the match was awarded to Finlay Martin for consistently strong tackling.