Saracens efforts too late.

The Saracens started their Norfolk cup campaign with a home fixture versus Walsham. After some early confusion over the number of players permitted the Saracens kicked off with a squad of 18. Walsham came back strong, but the Diss defence looked strong, until a missed tackle let one of the opposition mid field through to score after around 5 mins. This was converted to give the visitors an early 7:0 lead. Diss responded well, and after a series of interlinking passes, a well-executed cross-field kick saw the Saracens stopped just short of the line. On the quarter hour mark walsham were penalised for pulling the scrum down, and quick thinking fly-half Adam Williamson tapped and sailed over the line to put Diss on the score board, but narrowly missed his conversion. After 25 mins Sam Jacobs left the field with an ankle issue, and Ryan Shannon came on, offering fresh legs and extra confidence to the Diss attack. The Diss back line looked formidable with ball in hand, but both backs and forwards alike defended hard against Walshams up and out game plan. As the half drew to a close The Saracens were awarded a penalty just inside the Walsham 10, and in the dying moments Williamsons penalty attempt lacked the elevation required to give the home side the lead.
In the second half it was evident North Walsham had changed their game plan to make use of their weighty forward pack, with a lot of short plays being used. After 8 minutes they used a series of pick-and-goes ending in a driving maul to cross the line, but the failed conversion gave 12-5. The Saracens defended tirelessly, but seemed to struggle to gain possession, with thhe visitors dominating in the scrums and up front battle. The Diss defence cut down any attempts they made at running rugby, but the visitors made short work of the Diss 8 in a series of scrums in quick succession and drove the line from 10 metres out, extending the lead to 17:5. This frustrated the blue side and composure started to slip, when a yellow card was given to prop Ed Passmore for killing the ball after a series of infringements by the Saracens (Despite the fact it was actually debutant Ed Curtis!!) The visitors capitalised on their extra man to score again, but still struggled to convert, leaving their lead at 22:5. Diss Rallied at this point realising they could easily break through the mid field, and after a couple of thwarted attempts, a series of well-timed passes put Jon Trede over the line, Williamson’s conversion attempt missing by a very slender margin; 22:10. The home crowd were jubilant and the Saracens back line again controlled the game, when a superb cross field kick was gathered up by Chris Trede who off-loaded in the tackle to put younger brother, Jon, over the line for his second try. The Turkish international player Nas Gergin stepped up to convert, but hadn’t allowed quite enough for the wind and also narrowly missed, leaving the Saracens trailing by 7 with just seconds to go. Once more the Saracens attacked at pace, until Chris Trede found himself with no option but to chip over the top, whereupon the Visitor’s full back promptly sent the ball off the field, much to his team mates relief. This narrow loss left the Saracens a little frustrated, but positive with the way they had reacted to the way the game developed.