Cantabs 19 : 5 Diss - 30th January 2016

A depleted and injury stricken Diss side found a resurgent Cantabs side far too hot to handle, suffering a severe blow to their automatic promotion chances. Cantabs possess the strongest front five in the League and continually put the Diss eight under intense pressure at not only the scrummage but also the line out and tackle phases of open play. Diss kicked off into a biting wind and were put under pressure from the outset. Solid and determined defence led by Matt Cullum kept the home side at bay for the first thirty minutes, although all sequences of play occurred in the Diss half due to Cantabs attacking intent and Diss’s inability to break down what was to prove an outstanding Cantabs defence. Diss repelled a number of five metre line out and scrummage drives from the Cantabs eight and manfully tried to break the game up by attacking close to the breakdown. From one such attack, possession that for all intent and purposes should have gone wide was retrieved by Cantabs following a wayward kick. The home side responded by driving up field to eventually score their first converted try with only minutes remaining of the half. Matt Cullum and Kimi Latu were at the forefront of the Diss rear-guard throughout the half but a lack of precision when kicking out of hand was proving a serious Achilles heel.

The pattern of play throughout the third quarter highlighted two very competitive sides trying desperately to gain an ascendancy in the game. Diss played with passion individually but it was Cantabs who showed the more cohesive style and on fifty five minutes Cantabs were unlucky not to be awarded a further try following excellent driving play from their front row. Diss entered the Cantabs twenty two for the first time in the game on sixty two minutes attacking at close quarters in a desperate attempt to bring themselves back in the game. Yet again no one individual seized the initiative with possession all too often being driven close to the breakdown rather than being sent wide. Cantabs solid defence and line speed was outstanding all afternoon.
Having relieved the Diss siege, Cantabs kicked possession deep into the Diss twenty two and following a series of handling errors loose possession allowed the Cantabs wing to secure the ball and dash over to increase the home sides lead to 12 nil with eight minutes to play. Diss were now playing catch up rugby and responded by attacking from deep in their own half to yet again present Cantabs with turn over ball from which to score a final converted try to put the game beyond the visitors. Diss rallied in the closing minutes scoring a close quarter try through Matt Richard to bring a thoroughly demoralising afternoon to its inevitable conclusion.