Sunday saw the U14 season kick off with a home match against Swaffham, who were coincidently the last team we played as U13’s. This was the first 15-a-side match for the boys and a chance to measure themselves against an opposition that beat us 50 v 30 last year. Swaffham had already played a mini tournament so were up and running, while Diss had enthusiasm they also had large dose of ‘rustyness’, which proved to be the most significant factor separating two evenly matched teams.

There were 22 Diss boys available on the day which was a great turnout with only 2 of the squad not able to make this match. Diss welcomed 2 new players – Tom Vettraino and Ryan Anozia. Both played with distinction on their match debuts and are great additions to the squad and team.

The match kicked off in warm sunshine and was nip and tuck for the first half. Swaffham scored first against the run of play where Diss had a number of probing breakaways that were pulled back because of marginal forward passes. The team rallied and replied with two strong trys, the first from Jaden Johnson, and the second by Peace Joshua (converted by Aaron Locktich). Both were the result of working the ball wide, going outside the opposition, and then completing with fine fast running by Jaden and Peace. Just before half time Swaffham scored an equalising try, and as they converted both theirs and Diss converted one, Diss were down 12:14 at the break. One felt that Diss had the momentum and were unlucky not to have more scores on the board with Jaiden Mutsambiwa in particular being denied by the last defender. A takeaway from the match is there was some fine tackling across the team – particularly Jaiden, Will Worley and Alex Allott on the Diss line denying scores, and Conor Fell, Kit Brodie and Stephen Chaoldson tackling everything that moved. It is something we have worked on and is paying dividends.

The second half was frustrating, not just because Swaffham ran in 3 unanswered trys, but because Diss were not able to work together to respond with scores of their own. The consensus from the touchline was this stemmed from a lack of organisation on the pitch and ‘positive aggression’. There was far too much bunching and the back line not set to take the ball. Equally the ball was not recycled quickly enough from the rucks and then distributed down the line (to find the space and the fast and strong players who would benefit). These are points to pick up in training. However, let’s not be too hard as Swaffham were well organised in defence and attack and the boys can learn much from this yardstick. The second point about ‘positive aggression’ is most likely because this was the first match, and Swaffham were more into their season so were harder in some of the rucks. Once we get going I am sure the boys will find their feet and level as they did last season.

Final score was 12:38 which is a bit hard, a point reflected by the Swaffham coach who said the match was and felt much closer than the scoreline. Much to learn, and so many positives to take away. We have a strong squad of talented individuals – that has been added to with 3 strong new players. We quickly need to harness this skill and focus on structure and discipline in the match to get the ball moving quicker from the rucks then passed down the line. The forwards are coming together and two good turnovers in the scrum were outstanding (one led to the try). The backs have pace and need to keep working on positioning, passing and movement. It feels that the gap versus Swaffham has closed and with some of the points addressed there is every reason to believe Diss will be ahead of them next time we play. Man of the match was Conor Fell for his relentless tackling, showing by example what can be done.

Finally, thanks to those of you who did car park duty – Jamie Brodie, Sarah Groves, Sally North, Chris Wolfe, Sally Davison, Greg Locktich – it was really appreciated, and other than a few challenges with dogs it all went really well.

This week we have training on Tuesday and Sunday.