Diss work hard for win

A fifth victory was recorded by Diss maintaining their 100pc start to the season, but they were made to work very hard by determined opponents Eton Manor.

Eton kicked off and immediately put Diss under pressure. Stout defending by the away side was the order of the day.

The penalty count was increasing, and Eton took the lead when Diss were caught offside in front of their posts, the Eton centre making no mistake.

Diss responded by increasing their work rate, and began to get some useful possession. After some great work by the forwards in the loose, the ball was moved quickly to winger Andy Thorpe who drew opposition players towards him before releasing the ball to centre Carl Smith. He proved what a strong runner he is by breaking through the home defence to score left of the posts.

The conversion kick was missed, but Diss now had a narrow lead.

Eton once again responded and just one minute later regained the lead with a penalty awarded after Diss were again caught offside. The visitors kicked off and it was the turn of Eton to be caught offside. Diss skipper Adam Williamson converted the penalty.

For the rest of the half both sides exchanged attacks which were kept at bay by stout defence and at times a lack of precision.

Diss kicked off the second half and immediately went on the attack with the forwards once again gaining useful ground. The ball was released to the backs and Andy Thorpe launched a high kick and chase.

The Eton full-back was superbly dispossessed inside his own 22, and Thorpe once again drew tackles before passing to Williamson.

He stepped around two opposition players before scoring a glorious try to the right of the posts. Unfortunately he injured himself in the process, and the kicking duties had to be taken over by Chris Beaird. The conversion was narrowly missed.

The penalty count against Diss continued and eventually the ref temporarily reduced Diss to 14 men when hooker Richard Horne was shown a yellow card for handling on the floor.

Eton went on the attack and put the Diss defence under sustained pressure. The visitors held out until the midway point of the half, but just before Diss were back to full strength Eton scored a try when for once a tackle was missed. The conversion went over for 13-13.

The referee controversially adjudged Diss to be offside and awarded Eton a penalty. But Andy Thorpe intercepted the ball deep in his own half and sprinted, side-stepped two rivals before scoring an unconverted try.

After securing possession from a five metre line-out, great work by the pack saw the ball slipped to Diss winger Aaron Bliss who dived in from the blind side to score an unconverted try.

Eton kicked off and conceded a penalty after a Diss player was dangerously tackled in the air. They were reduced to 14 men after a yellow card for a high tackle. Ross Wardlaw scored a well-crafted try for a Diss win by 28-13.