Manor overwhelm lowly Diss

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Manor welcomed bottom of the table Diss to the New Wilderness this week showing a number of changes to the side that ground out a win at Fullerians the previous week. Whilst Diss played with heart and never gave up for the full 80 minutes, they had difficulty living with the home side, a fact that was backed up by the final score.

Diss kicked of the match playing into a stiff wind and it wasn’t long before Manor created their first score. At a scrum on halfway Manor won the put in allowing scrum half Nick Horton to make use of the large blindside. He attacked at pace running around a couple of defenders before drawing the final defender on the 22 meter line then passing out to winger Elliott Brown to race over and score the first of the five try’s he would score during the game. Mitchell Din took on the kicking duties for the day but couldn’t slot the touchline conversion and with 3 minutes gone Manor held a 5 – 0 lead.

From the re-start Manor gave away a stupid try, after winning the re-start and driving the ball into Diss’s half they gave away a penalty which they chose to kick to touch. With the ball going towards touch, Brown did well to stop the ball going into touch and keeping the ball in play, unfortunately none of his team mates were awake and didn’t react to the bouncing ball, all credit to the young Diss winger who had chased the kick and benefited from Manors lapse, he gathered the bouncing ball and raced over the line unopposed. Although the conversion was missed after 7 minutes Diss found themselves level at 5 all, but that was as good as it would get for the visitors.

Manor soon made amends for their error when they won a scrum just outside Diss’s 22. Garth Tucker took the ball on before it was fed out to flyhalf Jack Emmerson and after a well worked backs move centre Oscar Townend broke through after running a fine attacking line then had the pace to race in at the corner. Again the difficult conversion was missed but Manor had re-taken the lead 10 - 5 with 12 minutes played.

From the restart Diss defended well and turned over the ball and had a period of possession but could not break through Manors defence but did win a lineout just inside Manors half. The throw in was long and Tucker pounced on the loose ball allowing Manor to take the ball forward, it was then fed to Emmerson who again executed a well constructed backs move, this time outside centre Aaron Lowe ran an excellent attacking line, slicing through the Diss defence and sprinting the 30 meters to the line to score under the posts. This time the conversion was successful taking Manors score to 17 – 5 after 16 minutes.

Manor continued to have the upper hand with some powerful forward runs by Jack Sullivan and Brad Burrell but some indiscipline at the breakdown gave penalties away halting promising attacks.

Manors next score came from a Diss scrum just inside their 22 which Manor won, the backs took the ball into contact then Robb Falls drove further towards the try line before George Cosmo took up the charge, he was halted 6 meters short of the line but managed to off load to Sullivan who had the power to drive through two defenders to score. The conversion was missed but the scoreboard moved on to 22 – 5 after 25 minutes.

Manor were controlling most aspect of the game but were disrupted by an injury to Cosmo who had to leave the pitch to be replace by Sam Handley. Still Manor attacked and their next score began from inside their half when Tucker made an initial break before Brown and Din combined to take play towards Diss’s 22, Harry Bone then took on play before feeding flanker Falls who showed great pace to outsprint the covering defence and go over for another Manor try and with the conversion successful Manor held a 29 -5 lead. Although Manor created further opportunities they couldn’t add to their tally before halftime.

Manor started off the second half with Jamie Millais on at flanker for Paddy Sheehy and soon Millais showed his power when he took the ball on from a Din counter attack, knocked over his opponent before feeding Brown who raced down the wing and with the try line in sight he was tackled into touch but managed to off load the ball but the supporting players could hold onto the pass and a try scoring opportunity had been missed.

Manor soon added to their tally when after another good forward drive Din broke through and although stopped a few meters short of the line, fed the ball to Bone who went over the line for a try. With the conversion good, after 5 minutes of the second half played Manor lead
36 – 5.

Diss continued to give their all but were finding it difficult to stem Manors attacks. From a scrum close to halfway Horton again spotted a gap and after beating the first line of defence, drew the next defender before feeding Brown out on the wing. He used his pace to squeeze in at the corner despite a valiant last ditch tackle by the Diss fullback. The conversion just missed but the scoreboard continued to tick over at 41 – 5 after 10 minutes.

Diss now had a period of possession and although they worked the ball into Manors 22, they couldn’t break through Manors defences and soon found themselves on the back foot defending against further Manor attacks.

With the forwards to the fore after runs by props Burrell and Handley the ball was shipped out wide to the wing where Sullivan was lurking, he stepped inside the covering defenders and powered over the line for his second try of the match. With the conversion good the score moved to 48 – 5 after 20 minutes of the half played.

Diss could not stem the flow of Manor try’s and after forwards and backs combined well the ball found it’s way to Brown to score yet another 7 point try moving the score onto 55 – 5. This was soon followed when Manor won a Diss lineout allowing Din to make a good break from deep making 30 meters before setting up Lowe to go over for a try in the corner and with the conversion missed the score stood at 60 – 5.

Still Manor continued to press and straight from the restart Falls made a good 30 meters before Bone took play close to Diss’s 22, here the ball was set up then moved along the backline where Brown again had the pace to beat a couple of defenders and go over the line for another try moving the score onto 65 – 5.

Manor’s game now dipped for a while and this allowed Diss to have some welcome possession inside Manors 22, but try as they may, they couldn’t break through Manors defence and all their hard work came to nothing.

With 5 minutes left to play Manor created another try when Diss had a defending scrum inside their 22, Manor drove the Diss pack backwards turning over possession allowing the Manor backs to move the ball swiftly out to Brown who stepped back inside his man and went over for his fifth try of the match. With the conversion missed the score now stood at 70 -5 with enough time left for Diss to re-start the game.

The re-start went to Falls who again made ground before the ball was moved swiftly long the backline to Bone who made yardage before feeding the onrushing Millais, he then set off on a destructive run showing power and pace knocking Diss defenders off their feet as he took the ball to the 22, when eventually stopped he offloaded to the supporting Bone. With all still to do Bone sidestepped his man, swerved back inside, sidestepped a couple of attempted tackles then swerved again past a defender and despite attempts to stop him he managed to dive over the line for an excellent individual try. With the extra points being added the ref brought proceedings to a close with Manor winning by 77 – 5.

As the score showed Manor had won the contest at a canter but credit to the opposition who kept going for the full 80 minutes despite being outclassed. The performance from Manor was better than in recent weeks, not just because of the result but because, except for a 10 minute period in the second half, they kept up their intensity throughout the game. Next week will provide a much sterner test away to Sudbury, they are difficult to beat on their own ground and their performances do not reflect their position in the league. Whatever the team is that is selected to play next week they will have to be at their best to come away with a positive result.