Home to Shelford 3rd November 2013

Diss 53 Shelford 0

A fine cold morning saw Diss turn out against old rivals Shelford, both teams having plenty of men in reserve. There is considerable history between these sides, they have had some compelling encounters since the under 8 level, when the bragging rights went to Shelford. There have been several close and a few not so close games in the intervening years, with the most recent victory going to Shelford at last year’s County Cup runners up play-off down in Woodbridge.

Diss, still missing a few players for various reasons started brightly and Luke Miller scored in the corner after some good handling from the backs. Jake Grant added the conversion, and Diss were soon to score again as big Chris Davies scorched through several defenders. Joe Hegarty scored soon after and Diss were on a roll!

Man for Man this was probably the best Diss performance for a considerable time. Not one single individual had a poor game, all boys playing at least one half of Rugby. The pack was dominant and competed for every ball. The defending was heroic and Shelford, who are a very capable team and apparently have not been beaten this season were kept out or foiled at every turn. Hegarty went in for his second, before Oscar Seaman won the foot race to touch down his own kick through for a fantastic score. Half time Diss 27- Shelford 0.

The start of the second period saw Shelford start to fight back, with some very enterprising play. All of their good moves (and there were a decent number) were thwarted by a determined Diss and it was half way through the second period before Davies ran in his second, converted by Grant and then, not to be out shone, Hegarty added his second to put the match well beyond the visitors.

In fairness Shelford never gave up and battled until the end, however Tony Brown and Miller added further scores, both converted by Grant towards the end. Shelford must have been pleased to hear the final whistle! It was not their day.

MoM was a difficult choice for the coaches but they decided Luke Miller and Chris Davies, both fairly new boys to the Diss setup were the winners of this now coveted award, coaches’ special mention the whole team.