Old Cooperians 18 : 32 Diss - 28th January 2017

Diss kicked off against the elements, playing up a gentle slope and into a breeze. These factors contributed greatly to the shape of the game.

Diss did not have everything their own way and the first half was territorially won by Old Cooperians through tactical kicking. Their big forwards and fleet footed backs pinning Diss in their own half for much of the first period.

From a scrum mid field Old Cooperians put the ball through the hands of their backs to score an easy unconverted try from 40m out, with the Diss defence appearing to be defending too narrowly. Shortly after that Old Cooperians were awarded a penalty on the Diss 22m which their number 15 kicked to make the score 8-0. Their backs continuing to threaten out wide.

Diss decided, with 20 minutes gone, to keep things tight and through a series of pick and drives from the mid field made steady progress towards the Old Cooperians line. Hipwell, Laurie, Abercrombie and Latu all influential in this period of play. Although the whole Diss pack should be congratulated on the big shift they put in during the game. The final pick and drive through Steve Hipwell saw him charging over the line for the team’s first try on their first visit to the Old Cooperians 22m. Converted by McClure the score now 8-7.

Old Cooperians continued to pressure Diss, and from a penalty kick missed, ran the restart through their 8 and 4 to threaten the Diss line again. The Blues defence held until a further penalty was awarded to the home side. This time kicked over for 11-7 on 30 minutes.

It was Diss who was awarded the next penalty in the mid field. The kick not finding touch as the Old Cooperians 15 flicked the ball back in field into the hands of the chasing Matt Trede to stroll over for the teams 2nd try. McClure converting, the score 11-12.
10 minutes to go before half time, John Bergin came on for Joe Brock and Will Waddingham off for Fraser Hall.

With many clouds now scudding across the sky and a greasy pitch, Diss went into half time a little reserved but knowing they needed to use the elements in the second half.

The 2nd half restart resulted in an immediate penalty for Diss. McClure finding touch on the Old Cooperians 22m. With the line out won through Abercrombie who excelled in the air, Matt Richards broke through to feed Hipwell. Beaird collecting the final pass was stopped short of the line but Diss were awarded another penalty for holding on in a ruck, kicked by McClure.

The re-start saw Alex Leeder caught in possession. However with the ball secured Abercrombie spotted a gap in the Old Cooperians defence and set off for a 30m sprint on his own. With support following and from a series of passes through several pairs of hands, Hipwell bundled over the line for a well deserved team try. McClure converting and the number 10 Old Cooperian shown a yellow. The score now 11-22. Shortly after that Diss were awarded another penalty for holding on after great counter rucking from Ed Hudson – converted by McClure.
Old Cooperians did not appear to be committing to rucks, as Diss continued the pick and drive theme and put bigger ball carriers in the second receiver position to good effect.

A series of penalties mid field saw Old Cooperians break out of their half to the Diss 22 and threaten their line on several occasions. The Diss defence digging deep until, after one too many infringements, the unfortunate Leeder was shown a yellow with 15m to go.

The resulting scrum was won by Old Cooperians and their 10 fed their 13 on an inside line to score under the posts. The score now 18-25.

Diss, however, were to have the last say and after more sustained pressure from Old Cooperians camped on the Diss 5m line, Beaird came off his defensive line, to get the interception he was looking for and set off at pace towards the Old Cooperians line only to be tracked down on their 22m. Good work off the ball by West, Hipwell, McClure and Scott in support allowed the move to be kept alive and the try was scored through Scott. Converted by McClure who kicked consistently well all afternoon. The final score was 18-32.

Report by Alistair Shepherd