Match Report v Letchworth RFC

Diss returned to winning ways in a game that fluctuated from start to finish. For the neutral this proved to be one of the most exciting games played at Mackenders for many years.

Early exchanges highlighted a willingness from both sides to play an expansive game. The game was strewn with errors and at times totally unstructured. Diss entered the Letchworth half on ten minutes and released Chris Beaird. Beaird had a wonderful game and on this occasion crashed through multiple tackles to stretch out and score a superb individual try. Converting his own try allowed Diss to take the initiative. A Letchworth penalty drew the scores closer until Harry Gooderham sliced his way through to increase the lead. Beaird stepped up to convert again. As the sides moved into the second quarter, Diss errors allowed the visitors back into the game. Poor tackling and a missed touch kick gave Letchworth space to create a well- crafted try scored by Lewis Waters. Diss now drifted completely out of the game allowing the visitors to score two further tries thus establishing a ten point lead as half time approached. A clever break from Alex Leader sent Stephen Hipwell crashing through to score an important and crucial try . A mouth- watering encounter was beginning to develop with the score being 21-24 at the break.

Letchworth certainly hit the ground running at the beginning of the second half. Slotting an early penalty and then capitalising on slack Diss defence to score yet another converted try to increase their lead to 34-21. Diss had to react to these early reverses or the game would be lost. Led by the more experienced players, Diss lifted their game and began to run at the visitors at pace and from depth. Harry Gooderham scored a superb individual try out wide to lift the entire ground. Momentum had now changed. Stephen Hipwell seized possession within the Letchworth half and yet again crashed over to give the home side a one point lead. Letchworth looked like scoring every time they had possession, which they promptly did to increase their lead by six points with ten minutes remaining. Diss then sent the home support into raptures scoring two further tries through Stephen Hipwell and Harry Gooderham. Chris Beaird converting Hipwell’s try superbly from wide on the right. The Diss faithful could breathe a sigh of relief having witnessed a wonderful game of attacking rugby.