Diss 26 - 5 Sudbury

DISS 26 5 SUDBURY

An attritional first half, littered with handling errors, ended pointless; wholehearted commitment and excellent defensive line speed meant that at no time did the ball go beyond the 22m line of either team.

Things could only improve and the Sudbury restart was returned with interest by a powerful run from Harvey Newton. This set the tone for the second half and a further run by the flying winger and quick recycling by the forwards allowed Harry Williamson to burst through several tackles from 20m out and force his way over the line. Aaron Frith converted (7-0). Diss continued to push forward and, in a reversal of the first try, Williamson’s run and some slick handling gave Newton the opportunity to show his pace and leave would-be defenders in his wake. Again Frith converted (14-0).

Sudbury continued to play wholehearted 15-man rugby and after a long spell of concerted pressure they finally breached the Diss defensive efforts to score a deserved try through Charlie Gardener; a fitting reward for a player who was a thorn in Diss’ side throughout the match (14-5).

However, this seemed to galvanise the Diss players who went up another gear and started to play with increasing confidence. Having started to dominate the scrums, the forwards then began to ruck and counter-ruck with even greater success, with the irrepressible Tyler Pursehouse to the fore and scrum-half Leo Sargent ensuring that quick ball was available for the backline who used it with pace and precision. And the good handling of fly-half Frith and his centres Will Rapkin and David Thorne was matched by their disciplined defensive duties whenever Sudbury threatened with the ball.

As the home side continued to up their game a well-worked penalty on the right wing made its way infield to find Sam Willett with the bit of space to run into. The wing-forward pinned back his ears and sprinted from just inside the Sudbury half, outflanking the defenders to touch down in the left-hand corner. Captain Dom Bell-Tye took responsibility for the touchline conversion that proved even too far for his powerful boot. (19-5).

For Diss, the icing on the cake came with the last try of the match. Sudbury continued to play the ball through their backs but Newton put in yet another crunching tackle and gathered the ball in one movement to give him a clear run to the line. The Sudbury player was left wondering what had hit him and the supporters on the sideline were left wondering at what they’d seen. It capped a superb overall performance by the Diss winger that saw him named Man of the Match.
Frith converted to complete the scoring (FT 26-5).

A keenly contested encounter, played in great spirit, which saw the home team’s stronger rucking and running play edge the contest.