Shelford : Diss - 5th March 2017

Many of the parents at Diss have seen the boys grow up from the ages of 6/7/8 playing in the mini’s. At under 13’s the boys are morphing into young men and we’ve witnessed many changes among them both physical and how they approach the game mentally. All have definitely got better. And all have got taller and bigger. Young men indeed.

In the case of Colchester, who we faced in our last game, it’s more like old men! They have players 6ft 2 at 13. And three off them! Having played them the week before we knew what to expect and as you would expect our boys didn’t show anything less than full bravery. However, that was our last game. Lets begin at the start.

Shelford is a wonderful club, welcoming and the tournament well organised and attended.

Diss, through the years, have been notorious slow starters. But today, it was different. The players, led by Stanley Spurdens, did their own warm up and drills. They took responsibility to get themselves prepared and it paid dividends throughout the day. The team atmosphere at Diss is something to behold but today the Wyatt’s turned up the volume to deafening levels.

First up was Bury B team. With something like four sides at Bury, the B’s are no slouches. They are a well coached side with depth in numbers. Diss only had 12 players so Bury graciously gave us one of there spares and the game started at a frenetic pace. Diss were very strong in tackle and our rucking and mauling was of the highest order with Diss at every breakdown, protecting the ball, turning it over and recycling out to the backs. Miles Clark was instrumental in the quick ball that Diss played all day. And it’s worth noting that the quick ball requires safe hands. Diss had the fewest handling errors I've seen.

On the third drive of the game Diss formed a maul and moved the ball between no less than four players, eventually moving it to Miles Clark. The maul was keeping a steady drive going forward, with Kenny Sayers, Stan Spurdens, Jamie Wilks and Josh Hayhoe, and Bury couldn't stop it. With around 10 yards to go the ball was deftly moved to Miles Clark who spotted a gap down the blind side and made a dash for the line scoring a superb team try that was filled with cunning and skill. Diss legends, OX Richards and Tony Wigby, worked hard to coach this in an excellent session two weeks before and boy, did it pay off. It was textbook stuff. I watched that session and the boys responded brilliantly, soaking up knowledge that’s been gleamed over decades and handed down through the years. The Diss way.

Having started so strongly, Diss were keen to keep the tempo high and the pressure on Bury. Diss were very strong in the scrum and with Miles Clark as attentive as ever he moved the ball out quickly and with accuracy to Stan Spurdens who with a step and a dummy made space and with 15 yards to go made a break and went through to score Diss’s second of the match.

Our defensive line soaked up a period of sustained Bury pressure and the tackle rate from all the team was excellent. Bury found a gap though and scored but never looked like getting the equaliser.
2-1 to Diss

The second match was against the hosts, Shelford. A fine drop kick from the start off and Drew Harris made a convincing run to get to it and with others in attendance Diss won the ruck easily. Miles Clark moved it out to Stan Spurdens, then through the lines before Kenny Sayers went on a driving run through three of the Shelford players. After finally slowing down he passed to Adam Balding who moved the ball with pinpoint precision to Finn Martin who powered through from ten yards to score another fantastic team try that saw at least eight of the Diss players passing and moving the ball.

Kenny Sayers scored the next try, again from a well worked scrum. Diss’s positioning was superb. Kenny’s try was with speed and subtle feints that wrong footed Shelford.

Diss’s third try was almost a carbon copy, with Stanley Spurdens supplying the finishing touches with a side step or two and over. The swirling wind was making conditions very difficult. Harry Hitch went on a fantastic run knocking players out of the way as he went. He’s as strong as anyone when he’s on the run and it bodes well for the future. His best performance thus far and a lot more to come from him. Alex Baker also had some fine runs executed with strength and determination.

Shelford scored a fine breakaway try but then it was back too Diss and Kenny Sayers took the ball a full 25 yards out and powered on, side stepping and dropping shoulders all the way through to score an excellent try. The final try saw another score from a scrum with Miles moving the ball to Stan Spurdens who, with speed made gaps and moved the ball to Finn Martin. After avoiding the first tackle Finn Martin then moved it back to Stan Spurdens on the overlap. Back to Finn Martin and then back to Stan Spurdens who ran a superb diagonal try to the right of the posts that included a lovely dummy.
One of the best games I've seen Diss play. This was a great team performance with movement, flair and everyone contributing to winning the rucks.

Diss 5 - Shelford 1

We watched YMA versus Bury in the next game and YMA looked very strong.

Diss started well with some huge tackles. Finn Martin, Stan Spurdens, Miles Clark, Josh Hayhoe, Jamie Wilks and Kenny Sayers all made massive tackles, one after the other and it was clear that YMA were a very strong side. But i doubt they have been on the receiving end of so many hard tackles this season.
But YMA were persistent and in the end got their first try.

Diss were up to the challenge and immediately after the restart we witnessed one of the best try’s I've seen from Diss. Again it was from a phenomenal maul and after some fifteen yards the ball was again sneakily moved between the players finally coming out to the ever patient Miles Clark. What then followed was fast hands, passing with speed and incredible accuracy between at least six of Diss’s players. Elliott Fulcher, Harry Hitch, Alex Baker, Miles Clark, Finley Martin all combining to get the ball into the hands of Reece Daniels who scored a fantastic try. It was wonderful to watch and against such strong opposition, this was no easy Try.

From the restart YMA had their tails up. With there stockiest player running at full pelt it looked like Stan Spurdens was going to be steam rollered but he stepped in to the tackle, and drove upwards with the shoulder and the lad from YMA must have thought he’d hit a juggernaut. It was a phenomenal hit and set the scene for another period of big tackles from Diss. Finn Martin was on fire but all the team put there bodies on the line in this game. One memorable tackle from Finn Martin was exceptional in it’s timing and ferocity. But you had to give it to the YMA lads. They didn't let up and eventually they found a gap to score their second.

Diss then had a chance to score a second try themselves but an uncharacteristic poor pass and ensuing knock on from Stan Spurdens let the opportunity pass and from the scrum YMA gained a breakaway try against the run of play. In the dying seconds YMA scored another runaway try and it finished 4-1 which didn't tell the story of the game. It was not that one sided and with some of the best defence we’ve witnessed from Diss, all of the parents and coaches were rightly proud of the effort.

Next up was Colchester who we faced the previous week in an epic 6-6 game.

This one didn't prove to be as epic. From the outset Colchester scored a calamitous try after the wind left Elliot Fulcher with a difficult pick up from Colchester’s drop kick and they scored a simple and frustrating try. Again, Diss put in a brilliant rucking and mauling performance and excelled in the scrum against a big pack.

But then Finn Martin got injured after a knee took the wind out of his sails. Down to 11 men, Colchester scored a simple runaway try down our left flank. It was too easy and at the restart Drew Harris threw his body into the big number 4 from Colchester and took a nasty bang to the head. After several minutes being attended too by the medics, the referee (helped by Paul Balding!), took the correct decision to stop the game as Diss were down to ten men.

But all in all it was a great day of Rugby played in an excellent atmosphere from all teams and coaches. The referees did a sterling job but most of all our boys played with skill and dedication in every one of the four games.