Manor made the long journey to Diss this week for their first away game of the season with a squad showing 9 enforced changes from the previous weeks victory against Fullerians. This did allow Manor to give a debut in the center to Oscar Townend. With limited options available Michael Eghan was chosen as the other center, having to play out of his normal position on the wing.

Manor kicked off the game and although had the better of the early exchanges, they looked like a side without cohesion as the team looked to get the journey out of their system and playing combinations got use to playing together.

With neither side managing to create any scoring opportunities, it was the hosts who began to gain an advantage in both possession and territory and had a period of pressure inside Manors 22, but a combination of good defence and poor handling saw the ball turned over to Manor where Harry Reed set off on a powerful break taking play into Diss’s half, but more ill-discipline at the breakdown turned possession over to Diss allowing to kick for a lineout inside Manors 22.

From here Diss retained possession and although they worked through the phases they didn’t look like breaking through Manors defence, so when Manor again gave away a penalty Diss took the opportunity to get on the scoreboard and kicked the penalty to take a 3 – 0 lead with 24 minutes of the game played.

The score seemed to jolt Manor into life and from the restart they upped their game when after a short period of home possession Manor won a penalty at the breakdown which they kicked to touch. Here Jack Sullivan won the throw in allowing Manor to set up a driving maul which made 15 meters before the ball was moved along the backline to Eghan who handed off two would be tacklers to take play to Diss’s 22 where he broke through another attempted tackle before racing to the line to go over under the posts despite a last ditched attempt to stop him. Cameron Dutch was successful with the conversion and after 30 minutes Manor had taken lead 3 – 7.

From the restart Manor took the ball back into Diss’s half where Eghan again proved difficult to stop breaking tackles at will, when he did get stopped he passed the ball out to fullback Elliott Brown who looked to have a clear run to the line only to be brought back by the ref for a forward pass. Manor though retained possession as the ref was playing advantage for a high tackle. Manor kicked for a lineout inside Diss’s 22. Here with the throw in secured by Reid, Manor used Michael Byrne and Sullivan to drive to the line, but this was repelled by the Diss defence so the ball went out to Dutch and although he was hit high in a tackle, he managed to move the ball out wide but poor Manor handling brought the move to a halt.

As the half moved on Manor continued to boss the game with most of the action in and around Diss’s 22. From a defending scrum Diss’s hard running No 8 drove off the back of the scrum but Reid managed to bring him to ground knocking the ball on in the process, but with advantage being played, Manor forwards again drove towards the line with George Cosma and Sullivan both being stopped short of the line, but yet again Manors hard work came to nothing when another handling error gave possession back to Diss.

With time almost up Diss had a rare foray into Manors half where they kept possession well and although they couldn’t break through Manors defensive line they did profit from some more Manor ill-discipline and when awarded a penalty 35 meters out, the Diss fullback struck a well taken penalty between the posts bringing an end to the first half with the score 6 – 7 in favour of Manor.

Manor had played well below par in the first half and with Diss starting the second half the visitors were keen to improve their performance. Reid took the kick off and after making yards set up a ruck where a good box kick by Nick Horton saw play move to just outside Diss’s 22 where the ball went into touch off a Diss player. Manor now built up the pressure on their hosts and although they lost possession inside Diss’s 22 a kick charge down by Dutch ensured that Diss couldn’t clear the danger and eventually Manor were awarded a penalty at scrum time. Manor choses to take another scrum and although another penalty was awarded with advantage being played the ball was fed out to debutant Townend who crashed through three attempted tackles to go over the line for Manors second try. With Dutch adding the extras Manor increased their lead to 6 – 14 after 5 minutes of the second half played.

From the restart Manor soon gave Diss an opportunity to hit back when the gave away a penalty in front of the posts and about 35 yards out. On this occasion though the Diss kicker couldn’t take advantage as his kick went under the crossbar.

Manor soon regained possession from the drop out where Eghan and Robb Falls combined to take play upfield before it was moved along the line where Reid was out on the wing, he set off down the touchline towards Diss’s 22 but was stopped by a high tackle from one of Diss’s props, a penalty was awarded to Manor and a yellow card shown to the Diss player.

With the ball kicked into Diss’s 22 an attacking lineout was won by Manor and quick ball was shipped out to Ollie Waugh, he took a couple of players to bring him down before Sam Handley took the ball on before Sullivan took up the charge but was bundled into touch 5 meters from the line. The ref had been playing an advantage and Manor took another lineout. Again quick ball found it’s way out to Eghan but a good double tackle on him dislodged the ball giving Diss a scrum. Manors hooker Handley was first to the ball knocking it back onto Manors side and the pack then drove their opponents backwards at pace towards the try line. With the Diss front row standing up under extreme pressure the ref had no option put to award a penalty try increasing Manors lead to 6 – 21 after 12 minutes.

Manor were now playing the game at a much higher tempo than in the first half and their hosts were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. Good charging runs by substitute Misiona Evagelia and Eghan saw Manor again attack Diss inside their 22. When the ball was move out to the backline Dutch cut back inside and with great footwork beat a number of defenders before ghosting through a gap and diving over the line for Manors bonus point try. He also added the extra points for the conversion and Manor were now on their way to victory at 6 – 28.

From the restart Evagelia caught the ball and set off on a powerful run making 30 meters up the middle of the park before linking with Falls who took the ball on before being brought to ground, here Manor secured the ball but as Horton fed the ball from the base of the ruck the Diss fullback knocked the ball on and as the ref deemed it a deliberate act he was sent to the bin for 10 minutes.

Despite being two men down Diss still attacked Manor when they could but after a period of possession just inside Manors half Eghan put in a crunching tackle taking the ballcarrier into touch for a Manor lineout.

Manors next score came after Manor turned over Diss possession allowing Dutch to put in a good cross field kick for Brown to chase and gather just inside Diss’s half, here he rounded the first defender and set off along the touchline where he evaded the clutches for another defender before sprinting in at the corner then going in behind the posts for a fine seven point try and with 28 minutes gone Manors lead had increased to 6 – 35 after 30 mins.

Even though Diss were back to full strength Manor were in control of the game with great interplay between forwards and backs with Townend and Reid both punching big holes in Diss’s defence before Horton chipped the ball ahead for Brown to chase, he was first to the bouncing ball and gathered it before going on the outside of his opposite number then as he was knocked into touch he chipped the ball into Diss’s 22. The covering defence were first to the ball and taken into touch but some dissent to the ref gave Manor a penalty 5 meters out from the try line. Horton took a quick tap and fed Sullivan who was stopped short of the line, the ball was quickly recycled and fed to the on rushing Evagelia who drove into three defenders but had the strength to drive them backwards and over the line for yet another try. Dutch kept up his 100% kicking record with the conversion from out wide moving the score onto 6 – 42 with a little more than 5 minutes of the game left to play.

From the restart and for the first time in the match Manor did not clear their lines properly and gave away a penalty which Diss kicked to the corner. This gave them a platform to attack Manors line which was defended well, but Manor were giving away a number of penalties which led to Evagelia being sent to the bin for persistent team offences. Diss took the opportunity to scrum against a weakened Manor pack and after a good drive which Manor couldn’t hold the ref awarded a penalty try to Diss, 13 – 42.

There was time to restart the match and Diss did exert some more pressure on Manor attacking inside the 22 but Falls turned over the ball which allowed Manor to set off on a counter attack which when halted close to halfway brought about the end of the contest.

Manor had achieved their goal of a bonus point win against game opponents who never gave up but were very much second best on the day. Although Manor didn’t play well in the first half they improved considerably in the second showing what they were capable of. With Sudbury the visitors to the New Wilderness next week an improved first half performance is a must as the visitors, who were promoted this season, have already shown that they are a good side capable of holding their own in this league. The pleasing thing for the Manor coaching team is that despite half the squad being changed, they were still able to produce a winning performance and so will make next weeks selection interesting as more players become available.