Stags are Diss-ed by the home team

Diss 38 Stevenage Town 17

Diss maintained their 100 per cent league record with a convincing win over a disappointing Stevenage side, scoring five tries to three.

Despite Stevenage dominating the forward set pieces, pushing the Diss pack back and disrupting clean ball, the home side's backs took advantage of poor communication and inadequate positional play by the Stags back line to create tries through overlaps and poor first-up tackles.

This was the general theme of the first half which was compounded by a lack of accuracy with the ball in hand leaving Town regretting missed opportunities.

Indeed, if Stevenage had continued where they left off the previous week and taken their scoring opportunities early in the game, the score would have been very different.

As it was, by half time, Diss had scored all five of their tries and converted each one.

The sole Stevenage response was a try by hooker Tavita Faamausili from a move at the front of a lineout.

Diss winger Bliss had an exceptional afternoon scoring four tries as he and his team-mates exploited the gaps created by strong, straight running and good passing.

The home side had an unassailable lead of 35-5 at the interval.

Changes were made at half time with Nick Lacey making his debut in the centre and Peter Smith taking over on the right wing.

The second half saw Town play a more disciplined, tighter game with the forwards exerting their influence and using their domination to slow the flow of clean ball to Diss, stopping them from increasing the score.

The home side were restricted to a single penalty in the second half as Town played more into the opposition half frustrating their players and creating more opportunities.

This frustration came to a head when the Diss prop Richards was sent to the sin bin for persistent offside.

Stags replied with two tries of their own in the second half. Number eight Gareth Roberts touched down from a pushover scrum, underlining the dominance of the Stevenage pack. The try was converted by Gareth Lewis.

The final score of the afternoon came from centre Alex Willcox who finished off a period of pressure by bursting through to touch down near the corner.

The forwards came off having proved themselves the better pack, with notable games being played by the back row of Phil Pearson, Roberts and especially Iain Penny who returned for his first game of the season.

Stags paid a heavy price for the mistakes that were made early in the game and came away in the knowledge that they must reduce these errors if they are to compete in this higher league.