Diss Cricket Club's first team came frustratingly close to another home victory, but had to settle for a losing draw against a strong Vauxhall Mallards side on Saturday.

Diss Cricket Club's first team came frustratingly close to another home victory, but had to settle for a losing draw against a strong Vauxhall Mallards side on Saturday.

Going into the last game of the season Diss will still need a few points to guarantee safety, yet a strong win could see them finish as high as third.

Diss were asked to field first, which saw Germon and Simon Cooper share the new ball.

Despite bowling with discipline, the opening pairing failed to

find the first wicket until an uninspired bowling change saw Rob Tooke trap A Hunt (16) with only his third ball.

A very strong 64-run partnership then followed between Arendse and Goldsmith (39), only for the latter to fall in exactly the same fashion as his predecessor; trapped in front by Rob Tooke.

Chris Cooper was bowling with excellent control from the opposite end, but he had to wait for his second spell to strike as he had Shipley (27) well caught at short fine leg.

The final three wickets all went to Henry Rush as he bowled excellently at the death, the most notable of which was the wicket of Rayno Arendse who was well caught by Simon Cooper in the very last over of the innings for a patient 95.

Mallards finished their innings on 205-6; a target that Diss considered to be slightly under par.

James Wilby and Henry Rush looked to make a solid start to the Diss reply, but Rush was first to fall for a painstaking three in the sixth over.

A useful partnership then followed between Wilby (26) and Simon Cooper, until the former was dismissed by James Ing.

Then 77-2 turned into 81-5 as Spinks and Rob Tooke fell in quick succession, only to be followed by Simon Cooper for a nicely-crafted 36.

Will Dawson (8) was next to fall as Goldsmith claimed his fourth victim, and standing on 100-6 Diss had a lot of work to do.

A brilliant innings by Chris Cooper then followed as he reached fifty with consummate ease.

As Cooper was dismissed for exactly 50, Diss' hopes of an outright victory diminished.

This left David Tooke (26no) and the ever-improving Williamson (14no) to see Diss past 90 per cent as they finished on 189-7, just 17 runs away from victory.

Diss' man-of-the-match went to Chris Cooper for an excellent all- round performance, including an invaluable fifty with the bat.

Diss 189-7 (C Cooper 50, S Cooper 36) drew with Vauxhall Mallards 205-6 (H Rush 3-35, R Tooke 2-50).