Romford 24 : 12 Diss - 1st October 2016

Heavy traffic and last minute call ups, slightly delayed the arrival of the Diss 1st team for their 3rd away fixture of the season. The slow progress to the ground continued onto the pitch with a sluggish and error strewn display against the fiery south Essex side.

With the rain holding off, Romford started brightly and soon put pressure on Diss with a good switch of play that left the Diss forwards flat footed. Although this attack came to nothing, Romford continued to pressurise Diss. On six mins Romford attacked well down the right hand side using a combination of forwards and backs and were only denied a try by a final forward pass. However three mins later they made sure the passes were accurate and with a couple of missed tackles, Romford scored beside the posts (7-0). Diss finally managed to string together a few phases of play, but time and time again they failed to secure possession and Romford were able to easily relieve the pressure. At twenty minutes Diss lost Jon Trede to injury and debutant Mike Jones replaced him on the flank looking to bring a bit more physicality to the game. With the majority of possession still with Romford, they continued to press and were rewarded with their second converted try of the game (14-0). The second try seemed to wake Diss from their slumber and on thirty three mins, after some good phases from forwards and backs, the Diss pack managed to set a rolling maul and Jacob Page found himself with ball in hand crashing over the line, the try was converted by Sean McClure (14-7). Unfortunately, Diss were not able to sustain this new found form and the half finished with continued mistakes from both sides.

Half time: 14-7

Romford started the second half as they did the first, with plenty of possession and pressure on the Diss try line and within four minutes Romford were awarded a penalty, with the resulting kick just drifting wide of the post. Continued pressure from Romford was frustrating Diss and on forty-eight minutes Steve Hipwell was yellow carded for offering to much advice to the referee on the contact area! Romford this time were successful with the penalty (17-7). With 14 men, Diss tried hard to get back into the game and tried to soften up the Romford defence by continually carrying the ball into contact, but the Romford stood firm. Diss rang the changes with Jake Girdler on for Will Hemmant and Dave Rackham for Ed Hudson and with the return of Hipwell, Diss from a stable scrummage started to pressurise the Romford line. With the line beckoning Diss threw caution to the wind and really started to move the ball, unfortunately an attempted miss pass was intercepted and despite the efforts of Sean McClure and Freddie Precious, Romford ran the length to score a converted Try (24-7). With eight minutes to play, Diss felt the game was over, but 2 late consecutive yellow cards for Romford reduced them to 13 men and Diss seized the opportunity for Sean McClure to score in the corner (24-12). With minutes remaining, Diss sensed a losing bonus point and went on all-out attack, a great run down the left wing by Phil Lelievre was unfortunately thwarted and the game was over (24-12).

A disappointing day at the office and with Diss facing the new table toppers Old Cooperians at home next week, they will be working hard to return to the form of previous weeks.

Report from Simon Cooper.