Beccles made the weirdly long trip Diss this weekend. Hoping to pick their first win on the road this season against a strong Diss 2 XV squad.
The game started off fiercely, with both teams pinning each other in their own halves, after penalties were conceded by both teams. However it was Diss who struck first, giving them an early 7-0 lead.
However, Beccles didn’t let their heads drop and replied with a try from a move that England wished they’d used this weekend.
GEDNEY threw a miss pass to hit ARMSTRONG at 13, who ran through a disorientated Diss defence, a simple pass onto the wing put WICKS away for his first try of the season.
Diss quickly responded by scoring to make it 12-5. However, the game had a twist, after a Diss player was shown a red card for a very dangerous clear out at the breakdown.
Diss quickly extended their lead to 19-5.
Beccles were struggling to move up the gears. However, ARMSTRONG, once again found by a neat flat pass by GEDNEY, broke through the Diss defence to make it 19-12.
Head Coach SWANBOROUGH, stated to the team at half time that their performance hadn’t been good enough in the first half and that they needed to improve.
Beccles responded to SWANBOROUGH and showed a good mental robustness in the second half.
Although Diss extended their lead to 26-12 after the restart. It was clear to see that Beccles were moving up the gears. MORTON was making impact hits all around the park, whilst locks, JOHNSTONE and BALDRY were playing with freedom in the open.
Beccles’ scrum, once again showed to be too overpowering for another opponent. Gaining penalty after penalty, scrum after scrum. KNIGHTS, MORTON and PITTS getting the better of their opposite numbers.
Ultimately, this consistency started to pay off. GEDNEY went over to score and leave Diss looking over their shoulders.
Diss responded quickly, making the score 33-19 with less than 20 minutes to go.
Beccles by this point had really started to click in the open.
And it was BALDRY who found himself crashing over the line, to make it a tense ending for both teams. The score was 33-24 with just under 10 minutes to play.
LOADER was pivotal in Beccles’ defence throughout the game, making all his hits on the wing. LOADER, last seasons’ top try scorer, also showed his attacking prowess as he was put through to bring the scores within one try in the closing stages. Score was 33-29 to Diss.
With one minute left on the clock, GEDNEY hit LOADER off a move in the midfield. LOADER showed great footwork, power and speed to cut through the Diss defence. LOADER then passed back inside to this season’s top try scorer BURLING, who was left with the easy work to do, as he ran under the posts from 30m out to give Beccles the lead.
A converted try, gave Beccles a 36-33 lead with 30 seconds left to play.
Diss regained possession off the restart, but Beccles captain GEDNEY who lead by example with his performance on the pitch throughout the match, turned the ball over at the ruck. The ball was kicked out and the referee’s final whistle blew.
A hard fought away win against a strong Diss 2 XV for Beccles puts them up to 4th place, with 3 games in hand on most teams around them.
Beccles host Great Yarmouth Broadland next week at home in what should be another great game.