Diss 3, Dereham IV 1

HOCKEY: On a rainy day in Dereham the top two teams in Division Two faced each other and the victors would have the upper hand in the title race.

There was only one team who showed the commitment and desire and that was league leaders Diss. The away side totally dominated the first half with a midfield of Chartier, Howard and Rolingson not giving the home side a sniff and with the scoring prowess of Glover they always looked dangerous. Diss scored after 10 minutes when Lucy Kershaw's great run and cross allowed Sam Howard to smash the ball in from five yards. Diss just kept going forward and made it 2-0 soon after when Chartier put the ball into Glover to make it goal number 27 for the season.

The rest of the half was controlled by Diss but they didn't create too many other chances. At the other end the Diss defence who have played well all season didn't give Dereham a clear sight of goal, the only time Diss keeper Moore was troubled was as the whistle blew for the end of the half.

Dereham had to step up their game if they wanted to keep in the title race, but once again it was Diss who scored again.

A great run by Howard set up Woods who's cross was converted by Glover, this finally woke Dereham up and they started to show why they where second in the league. For the last 20 minutes it was the home side who looked the most dangerous and managed to pull a goal back when a goal bound shot got deflected past Moore by one of her own defenders.

In truth, though, the result never looked in doubt and Diss almost added to their tally with a couple of quick counter attacks. The final whistle blew and this result puts the title race firmly in Diss' control.

Player of the match Sam Howard.