Diss hold firm against West Norfolk

Diss U13s made the trip to Kings Lynn on Sunday to play against their West Norfolk counterparts.

The opening 15 minutes saw the home side in the ascendancy, but Diss managed to hold out against a barrage of attacks close to their line. With some last ditch tackling aided by some penalty infringements from the West players, Diss were able to clear their line on several occasions.

This resolute defence proved to be the foundation for some expansive play by the visitors who gained great confidence from keeping their try-line intact. Having weathered the storm, Diss began to exert pressure of their own, firstly driving through the middle and then moving the ball out wide with some slick handling. The visitors were also back to their best in the rucks, with Tyler Pursehouse leading the way; and together with his 2nd row partner Alex Erhorn, the pair put in an incredible number of tackles to drive their opponents backwards.

West Norfolk enjoyed spells of possession of their own and continued to threaten the Diss line on occasions, but the blue defensive line held firm, with one clean take and clearance kick from a 5m line-out typifying the confidence and handling skills of the Diss players.

Diss ran in 6 well-worked tries, often as a result of some great support play. Dom Bell-Tye put in a captain’s performance with a hat-trick, Pursehouse scored a brace to add to all his work around the pitch and full-back Charlie Smith scored the sixth on the end of another flowing back move. Aaron Frith had a faultless morning from the kicking tee, slotting over conversions from al angles and helping the score to an impressive 0-42 win for Diss against a competitive West Norfolk side.

There were several Man of the Match contenders for Diss including the try-scoring forwards and centre Will Rapkin who led the back line so well both in attack and defence; but the stand-out performance was by William Gadd. The scrum half was at the heart of everything, marshalling his forwards at the rucks and mauls, showing a clear head in his decision-making and getting the back line moving with some lovely passing.