Diss beaten by Ridgeons title chasers Brantham

Brantham Ath 1 Diss Town 0

Diss were beaten by a single goal away at Ridgeons League Premier Division high-flyers Brantham Athletic.

It means that the Tangerines have fallen to fifth from bottom – but remain five points ahead of Wivenhoe from one less game played.

This was a good performance from Diss and their display deserved to earn greater rewards. However, they were unable to score for the 13th time in 27 league games.

On a heavy pitch both teams were trying to play a passing game, with chances coming at both ends.

The best chance that Diss had all afternoon came in the 39th minute when Andy Moody headed the ball on for James Pipe to move clear. In a one-on-one situation, goalkeeper Ryan Bedingfield stood firm and made his frame look big as he made the save.

Brantham broke clear down the middle and found leading scorer Ollie Mann in space to move forward and shoot past Matty Webster and his covering defenders for the only goal of the game. Just before half-time Brantham thought that they had earned a penalty, but were denied by an offside flag.

The early second-half play was a repeat of the first with both teams playing the ball around neatly.

In the 62nd minute Mark Shadrack took a free-kick from five yards outside the penalty area. His low shot was on target and deflected away for a corner. Brantham had their fair share of the attacking, but could not find a way through the solid Diss defence. The final chance for an equaliser came in the 82nd minute when Moody headed just a foot wide to a cross from substitute Joel Brien.

Diss: Webster, J Cole, Garner, Taylor, Leggett, Shadrack, G Cole, Speller, Pipe, Steward (Brien 74), Moody. Unused subs: Holden, Leverett, Bryant. Attendance: 70.