Holt 13 : 0 Diss - 20th April 2016

Since the New Year Diss have failed on five separate occasions to record victories away from home thus relinquishing any aspirations of promotion this year. Holt proved that when you possess a positive mind set and do not take a backward step in defence, controlling the game becomes a much easier prospect.

Holt took an early lead from a well taken penalty following a Diss infringement close to a defensive ruck. Diss created two clear chances close to the Holt line but a lack of discipline and technique allowed the home side to repel any serious threat. It has to be said that the quality of play in the first half left a lot to be desired, with the referees whistle dominating affairs, combined with a huge error count from both sides. Diss certainly retained enough possession from which to attack but the Holt back row were already beginning to show that halting the powerful running of John Laurie and Kimi Latu was always going to be a top priority. As half time approached the game was calling out for one side to take the initiative and grasp some sort of cohesion.

Unfortunately Diss failed to lift the malaise and on 45 minutes following the award of a penalty to Holt close to the Diss line, the whole team switched off, presuming that a penalty was going to be taken. The Holt hooker took a quick and intelligent tap penalty to score at the foot of the posts. Diss now found themselves chasing the game, yet again. Diss certainly had a greater share of possession in the second half and through Sean McClure and Philip LeLievre came close to scoring. Unfortunately a lack of precision and self- discipline totally nullified the development of any cohesive patterns of play. Jamie Burroughs, Chris Craven and Giles West manfully tried to lift the Diss offensive strategy but yet again, all too often, play broke down way behind the tackle line, due to a superb defensive rear guard from the entire Holt side. A lack of discipline and a disjointed game plan played into the hands of the home side who sealed there deserved victory with a further penalty to put the visitors out of their misery.