Diss slipped to their first defeat of the season against an in-form Stow side, in a game of missed chances.

Skipper Mark Williamson lost the toss and the away side elected to bowl first.

Diss made another fine start through openers Williamson and Chris Cooper before Williamson was bowled by Dan Ward (1-30) for 15 and the visitors had a breakthrough with the score on 36-1.

Diss progressed well through Cooper and D Tooke, who saw off the remainder of the opening bowlers without problems. The introduction of spinner Esse brought a wicket for Stow, when he bowled Tooke for 15. Cooper passed a deserved first half century of the season but Diss lost Daniel Taylor lbw to Esse (3-27) for four, leaving the score on 103-3.

Cooper continued to look in fine touch, but one lapse in concentration cost him his wicket as he was caught off Brassett (1-26) for a well-made 67. Diss began to struggle against the spinners with Meenhorst the next to go for four off Dhadwai (3-47). Robert Tooke and Lewis Taylor helped to push on the score until Taylor was caught for 10 and Hunt followed without scoring.

A partnership of 44 between Tooke (48) and Roger Buckenham (10) steered Diss to a competitive total and although they lost their last three wickets cheaply, they posted a score of 191 on an increasingly difficult looking pitch.

Diss made a solid start through openers D Taylor (0-32) and Meenhorst (0-46) but spurned a chance to dismiss Stow overseas player Dhadwai early on. Stow progressed without too many problems and the first wicket eventually came on 56-0, with Cooper bowling Esse for 19.

From then on, Stow gained a foothold in the game and a 77 run partnership between Dhadwai and High left Diss without much hope of a victory. Although there were good spells from James Hardy (0-30) and R Tooke (0-33), Diss could not make any further inroads until the end of the innings, when Williamson (2-16) bowled Dhadwai (85) and Landymore (7) to gain Diss an additional bowling point. Denny (26 not out) and Davey (4 not out) finished another excellent run chase for the Stow, as they won inside 43 overs with six wickets in hand.

Diss remain fourth on 69 points and travel second-placed Downham Town on Saturday (noon).