Having had no home game so far in this competition have amazingly progressed to the semi-final. Norfolk and Suffolk have been most of the away games and Diss was the furthest.

Diss third in their division were very hospitable hosts and with a fresh north-easterly wind the game got underway. The kick off was not dealt with by Fullers who were really still on the bus and immediately the home side got on the ascendency. Fullers were caught off side and Diss converted the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

The home side extended their lead after a long kick was not dealt with by the Fullers and their kick chase earned a try as Fullers fumbled the ball.

Fullers then got in their stride with some great running by full back Dan Evans who carved up the Diss defence time and again. He linked well with wing Tom Williams who in turn offloaded to debutant Tom Ivins and with his first touch of the ball scores. Dan Evans converted for an 8-7 score line.

Fullers against the wind worked their way into the Diss 22 and earned penalty after penalty. Eventually the referee used his yellow card and Diss were down to 14. With the numerical advantage Fullers used the scrum and George Harvey picked up from No8 and crashed over the line for a great score. Unfortunately the referee didn’t see it and gave a knock on to Diss who escaped that encounter.

Fullers were rewarded for their efforts later in the half with a Craig Duncan penalty as Diss failed to release the player in the tackle. They could have extended their lead before the break as Ivins once again was on the overlap only for the last pass to go pass his feet and in to touch.

In the second half Fullers played all the rugby but got caught in possession by going into contact too high or playing into the home sides hands and not spreading it wide from the contact area.

Wing Tom Williams went over after some lovely movement by the Fullers back line and Williams off his wing came in to score a lovely try. Duncan converted for the extra points.

However, from the restart Fullers put themselves under pressure by not dealing with the kick which lead to a scrum and miss tackle and Diss went into score.

The game was ultimately in Fullers control but again they missed a scoring opportunity by lack of execution or getting turned over at that critical time. Centre Liam Mann almost went over but lost the ball over the line. The subsequent scrum saw Diss break out but Luke Jacobs made a wonderful tackle to stop any attack from building and earn Fullers a deserved win and take them to the next round.

“We played most of the rugby but fell into their hands by losing the ball in contact, going in too high or not being clinical enough. There were a number of changes to the team who all stepped up today which was great to see. To come all the way to Diss and win was a great result for the club and progress to the last four in the South East. ” commented Fullerians head coach Rich Hoskins.

Team. Barson, N. Mann (Horne 50), Trybus, Kerr ©, Ivins, Bunce, Barrett, Harvey, Rawlinson, Jacobs, Williams, Toon, Duncan, Mann, Evans (Dollard 60).

Subs: McDougall, McPhail

Man of the Match: Luke Jacobs