DISS RFC U13s 55 : 7 WEST NORFOLK RFC U13s

Diss took on West Norfolk in their first foray into the Norfolk Cup competition (the David Blizzard Memorial Trophy) and, whilst West Norfolk competed with great endeavour, the home team put on a powerful display that proved too strong. The Diss pack was especially dominant in the scrums, although the visiting forwards perhaps having the edge in some of the mauls.

The opening two tries displayed Diss’ attacking intentions, with the forwards making incisive breaks, then recycling the ball which was passed quickly to the wingers to score, firstly Toby Drake on the left wing and then Harvey Newton on the right. More dominance by the forwards allowed Harry Williamson to power over from close range and, when Diss won a 5m scrum against the head, the same player burst over for the final try of the first half. Aaron Frith’s kicking of the conversions was perfection in the first half, with a magnificent 4 out of 4 (HT 28-0).

The second half saw Diss continue in similar attacking vein and it was only a combination of cold hands, resolute defence and a touch of greediness that kept the West Norfolk try intact for much of the period. The visitors made the occasional foray into Diss territory too, particularly with some strong running and support play amongst their forwards, but the blue defensive line held firm.

Eventually, Diss’ high percentage of possession began to tell. Firstly, after several phases of play, Nathan Brand fed Jack Largent for a try in the corner then an impressive run from prop Sam Geard saw him burst through some initial tackles and maintain a sprint from well inside his own half all the way to the try line. (There is probably a letter in the post to him from the Front Row Union - who knows if it will be to congratulate or complain!).

The Diss tries continued to flow with a Williamson burst and offload allowing Brand to run in from 20m and then Dom Bell-Tye returned the resulting kick-off with some determined running and hand-offs for a further try. When the visitors restarted, Williamson collected the ball and ran through a tired defence to complete his hat-trick with a try beneath the posts. Despite the scoreline, the West Norfolk heads didn’t drop and they competed throughout.

Their efforts were rewarded with the final try of the match, bringing cheers and applause from both sets of supporters; a bursting run from near half-way by Ezra Nwobodo who touched down under the posts, . The conversion by Josh Burgess was successful to make the score 55-7.

Into a strong headwind in the 2nd half, Frith struggled to reach the posts with some difficult conversions. However, when he was off near the end of the match, Bell-Tye first showed how easy it was to miss and then what a capable kicker he can be as he converted the final Diss try.

The Diss 'front five' were especially dominant in the scrums and put in a lot of unselfish work in the rucks and mauls. However, for his great distribution, excellent tackling and fine kicking, the Player of the Day was fly-half Aaron Frith.