Diss Mercury area notes

The teams were evenly matched but Diss took two of their chances and kept a clean sheet. Zac Turner crossed from the left and Kai Hines played the ball on at the near post for George Cole to force the ball in from close range. Brendan Head, who replaced the injured Hines at half-time, sent the ball in from the right wing in the 52nd minute. The ball was headed out and Cole hit a volley first time past Thaine from just outside the area to make it 2-0. Diss manager’s MoM: George Cole is having a fine season, both at U18 and reserve team level for Diss.

DISS U18 met Ipswich Wanderers U18 for the second time inside six days – this time it was a 2-0 win to the Suffolk hosts. Both games were played in an excellent sporting manner by two teams who got on with playing their football without arguing. In this match at Humber Ducey Lane Diss created enough second half chances to win but their shooting was mostly off target. Manager’s MoM: Lewis Riches for some fine saves. Diss U18’s next game is at home to Thetford U19 on Thursday, February 17 (7.45pm).

DISS U9 continue their unbeaten league run to seven games with a hard-fought draw against Lakeford. There were few chances in the first half, defending was difficult and Harry Holmes put in a solid performance at the back. Diss started well in the second half and opened the lead through George Hawes (MoM) who run through and with great technique fired an un-stoppable strike into the corner of the net. Oliver Budd was excellent for Diss in midfield. He nearly provided George with his second, running at the Lakeford defence, and found Hawes with a delightful pass which he narrowly put wide. Diss, defending against the wind in the second half, came under pressure late on and Lakeford got a deserved equaliser. Diss goalkeeper Kyle Bullingham was at his best, making three superb saves towards the end.

DISS U11 dictated play from the start against East Harling, creating a steady supply of chances through pace and incisive passing on the flanks. Jamie Channell (MoM) scored from a fine through-ball and Waill Smith headed home a second. Kyle Hanusiak added a third after a sweeping move and Lawrence Brown rifled home another. Billy Hines made some great tackles as Diss coped with early pressure in the second half and then were rewarded with further goals for Will Smith and Jamie Channell, to seal a 6-0 victory after an excellent team performance.

EYE SAINTS U14 won 6-3 at Sizewell to cement third place in the first division. With a depleted team, Saints missed a few chances and were fortunate to hang on as Sizewell hit the woodwork twice. Joe Hooton scored to put Saints 1-0 up at half-time. Early in the second half, Saints scored their second through Tom Hargrave. Midway through the half two goals in a three-minute spell from Tanner Call and a second from Hooton put the Saints 4-0 up. Soon afterwards Call scored his second and late on Reuben Martindale scored number six. Slack defending in the dying minutes gave Sizewell three goals. MoM: Tanner Call.

HARLESTON U9 played some of their best passing football to date in the latter half of this match against Beckvale, and looked easily the better team. The first half had seen Harleston struggle to attack, although they did go in at half-time with the lead, however, thanks to Alfie Chenery and Joe Collett. The start of the second half saw a goal straight away from Harrison Tompkins. The score could easily have been much higher had Harleston finished more of their chances, eventually adding two more to the tally through Charlie Norman. Harrison Tompkins had an outstanding game on the right. Excellent second-half performances from all contributed to Harleston’s worthy win of 5-0. Player of the week: Liam Robinson.

HARLESTON U10 got back to winning ways with a hard-fought victory over a spirited St Benets side. The home side found the windy conditions difficult and this seemed to disrupt their game-plan. However they did take the lead when Kieran Harvey’s shot deflected off Lingo. The second half saw St Benets push forward, but good defending by the MoM Harvey Robson and Jack Lester kept the score at 1-0. Henry Warner then burst through to coolly finish past the keeper to make it 2-0, Sam Fawcett almost made it three but hit a post after being put through by Warner. St Benets then scored a deserved consolation with the last kick of the game to make it Harleston 2, St Benets Wasps B 1.

HARLESTON U10 entertained Cobholm from Division Two in the shield and won through on penalties in an entertaining match. The visitors opened the scoring with a well-worked goal, and then were thwarted as Ben Marjoram made two good saves to keep Harleston in the tie. Harleston settled and Finlay Boreham went close with a header which went just over. Harleston were rewarded in the second half when Sam Fawcett shot low to equalise, then deservedly took the lead through an own goal. Cobholm equalised just before the end to take the game to penalties, where MoM Jude Ashken saved three of to send Harleston through to the next round. Final score: Harleston U10 2, Cobholm 2 (Harleston win 3-1 pens).

HARLESTON U13 gained three points after a good display against Shrublands, despite missing numerous chances. Playing against a strong wind in the first half, Harleston started well and Morgan Robinson gave them the lead with a shot from distance. This stung the visitors into action and keeper Andrew Hadingham had to be at his best with one save which was first class. Harleston regained their composure and Brannigan Harvey doubled the lead just before half-time. With the wind at their backs in the second half, Harleston totally dominated, the only surprise was that they only added three more goals. Brannigan tapped in his second, Morgan Robinson again scored from distance and a fine solo effort from Brandon Pickess followed. Andrew Hadingham gained MoM for a fine first half. Final score: Harleston 5, Shrublands 0.

HARLESTON U15 played Gorleston Rangers and the game was fairly even with chances at both ends of the pitch until the pressure of the wind told and Gorleston scored three goals before the break. Harleston looked much the stronger side in the second half, Ollie Heath scored from a corner at the back post just before Dan Knox’s shot from 25 yards found the top corner. Harleston continued to put pressure on and were rewarded with an equaliser when Knox got his second from the edge of the box. Harleston could not hold on to the lead and Gorleston scored for a 4-3 win. MoM: Remarl Nelson.

HEMPNALL U13 played St Benets with a fierce wind driving from one end to the other. St Benets elected to kick with the wind and scored five times. In the second half a shot from Will Harrowing was pushed round the post and from Dan Babington’s corner Ben Allen scored. Ben had another shot saved before Ethan Humphrey scored from 25 yards. Hempnall had a late shout for a penalty turned down but were well off colour and could not add to their score. Rhys Vertigans was excellent in defence throughout. Final score: Hempnall 2, St Benets 5.

HEMPNALL U15 found it very blustery when they entertained Shrublands. Against the run of play Shrublands took the lead but Tom levelled. Luke then put Hempnall in the lead but Shrublands equalised to make the half-time score 2-2. After the break Hempnall took the lead with Tom scoring his second and Alex then doubled the lead. Shrublands scored which led to some anxious moments but Hempnall came out victorious with a win which lifted them off the foot of the table. A good all-round performance by all the boys, which saw Alex take the MoM award. Final score: Hempnall 4, Shrublands 3.

SCOLE U12 turned out a really good performance in very difficult weather conditions. Scole scored in the first few minutes through Cameron Mcghie and Costessey equalised soon after. Scole pressed on with some good defensive work and passing, creating seven more goals in the first half coming from Ben Evans, William Bacon and hat-tricks for Ben Shepherd and Cameron Mcghie. In the second half Scole continued to dominate, with another five goals scored by Reece Lanchester, Ben Williamson, Harry Freeman and a fourth for Ben Shepherd. A very confident and positive win for Scole.

MoM: Ben Williamson, good work in midfield.

SCOLE U13 took possession at the start giving Gould a chance but Swanton Morley Black soon got into their stride. Scole failed to take full advantage of the wind in the first half with Everett scoring the only goal. Everett, Gould and Payne produced numerous opportunities but to no avail. In the second half, struggling against the wind, Scole couldn’t hold their lead. Swanton equalised but Logan and Everett battled through to score again. Swanton were gifted another goal from a free-kick. Goodwin-Tallents helped to hold the draw backed up by Shipperlee and Carradus. MoM: Jack Payne.

SCOLE U14 started the game against Hellesdon with the wind behind them but struggled to make use of it and soon went behind. Just before half-time Oscar Marshall equalised from close range and then he put Scole ahead, curling the ball into the far corner from 25 yards. With the wind against them Scole struggled to clear their lines and despite some good defending from PoM Nathan Locke, went 4-2 down. Late on, Thomas Constance made it 4-3 to Hellesdon after the keeper failed to hold the ball.

SCOLE took on Wymondham in the quarter-final of the cup. The blustery conditions made playing quality football difficult. Hitch opened the scoring for Scole with a well-judged curling effort into top corner. Scole were awarded a penalty for hand-ball, but the wind took Hitch’s effort over the bar. Wymondham’s goal survived successive Scole attacks. In the second period Scole coped with the conditions admirably. Seymour-Blackbourn and Boardman at the heart of the defence protected their area effectively and Burrows and Manning controlled the ball through midfield. MoM: Perry, snuffed out attacks and distributed effectively throughout. Final score: Wymondham 0, Scole 1.

SCOLE GIRLS U16 faced Mulbarton in gale-force conditions and Scole had the honour of kicking with the wind in the first half. It wasn’t long before they opening the scoring with Rachael Wall heading in from a corner. A delightful through-ball enabled Wall to score her second goal, slotting the ball into the corner with ease. Despite numerous more chances Scole couldn’t increase their lead. Mulbarton started the second half with the wind and scored with their first attack, but Scole tightened up and restricted Mulbaton to long shots. Despite being under constant pressure they held out for victory. Girl of game: Tash Blakely. Both sides deserve credit for entertaining in such blustery conditions.