Diss Town's chances of clinching promotion to the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division received a major setback on Saturday when the Tangerines crashed to a 4-2 home defeat to local rivals Framlingham.

A below par Diss performance saw the visitors claim a deserved win. Whilst Diss still have games in hand over their promotion rivals they now need teams around them to drop points.

Diss opened the game brightly and it wasn't long before they took the lead. In the 10th minute a long clearance from Sam Wenham was picked up by Charlie Webb. Surrounded by three defenders and with no support, he decided to have a shot. Using his strength to shield the ball, Webb turned and buried the ball home from 18 yards.

Town sought to build on the lead but slack defending saw Framlingham draw level.

The goal emboldened Framlingham who dominated possession and who went close to doubling their lead with a shot that fizzed inches pas the Diss goal. As half-time approached Diss had what seemed a strong case for a penalty when Sean Hunsdon was upended by a tackle from behind. But the referee deemed the offence to have taken place outside the box and the free kick was weakly hit into the Framlingham wall.

In the second half Framlingham took control and created a series of chances. In the 55th minute striker Charlie Smith headed wide with the goal at his mercy. Diss were creaking and it was no surprise when in the 67th minute they went behind when striker John Kerridge had a simple job to head home.

Framlingham made it 3-1 in the 78th minute when Diss keeper George Macrea was caught off his line by a lobbed shot. Town pegged it back to 3-2 almost immediately with a Hunsdon goal but never looked likely to grab an equaliser and it was the visitors who completed the scoring when Macrea rushed out of his goal to meet a long ball but was beaten to it by Danny Smith who made no mistake.

All four goals were defensive errors. There are some challenging games in the pipeline for Diss, starting with a visit to Braintree Town Reserves on Saturday.

Team: Macrea, Cole, Wenham, Tipple, Appleton, Manning, Boulter, Norton-Hugman, Webb, Hunsdon, Amis, Subs Pain, Bray, Appleton, Bryant, Shadrack.