Diss Town 1 Hadleigh United 3

Diss Town were at home to Halstead Town on Saturday and were left to count the cost of a red card as they slid to a disappointing defeat.

The Tangerines were in a buoyant mood after their 7-0 away win at local rivals Debenham earlier in the week.

As it transpired there was little to choose between the two sides on this occasion, until, with the score at 1-1, the Tangerines went down to 10 men, and Hadleigh then took full advantage to run out 3-1 winners.

After an even, if uneventful, start to the match, the Tangerines took the lead in the ninth minute when Jamie George was found with plenty of time and space in the penalty area to compose himself and find the back of the net. The game continued with an even split of possession before the Brettsiders equalised in the 20th minute when the Diss defence could not get a tackle in on Cripps and he was able to run through into the penalty area and slip the ball past Will Izod.

They key moment in the came arrived in 65th minute when Jason Armes received a straight red card for dissent and the Brettsiders seized their chance to ramp up the pressure on the depleted Tangerines.

In the 76th minute a clever back-heel by Sam Page just inside the area gave Ben Fowkes a chance to get a shot on target for Diss, but it was straight at the Hadleigh goalkeeper.

In the 79th minute, Hadleigh substitute Pavett scored with an unstoppable 25 yard scorcher of a shot that swerved away from the keeper's dive into the top right-hand corner of the net. Five minutes later the away side effectively sealed the points when Cripps robbed Danny Self near the byline and with only Izod to beat he made it 3-1 to the visitors.

The Tangerines had a chance to pull one back when they won a free-kick in a central position on the edge of the area in the 92nd minute but substitute Adam Burroughs' powerful kick was blocked by the defensive wall.

This was a disappointing result for the Tangerines, with an avoidable red card giving the away side the initiative to go on and take all three points.

Diss Town: Will Izod, Chris Gibbons, Stefan Gilding, Kyle Downes, Dale Barrett, Jason Armes, Joe Manning, Danny Self, Sam Page, Jamie George, Ben Fowkes. Diss subs: Chris Greenslade (for Gilding 78 mins), Adam Burroughs (for Fowkes 89 mins), Jack Hood, Sean Brown. Attendance: 82.

The Tangerines are away on Saturday when they play Dereham Town Reserves, kick-off 3pm.