Diss overcame difficult conditions and a determined visiting side to maintain their promotion push.

With a blizzard blowing for most of the match South Woodham Ferrers had the better of the early exchanges and following a series of fast rucks and some intelligent off-loads Adam Brown crashed over close to the Diss line to open the scoring. Jack Reeve converted and Diss found themselves on the back foot with 25 minutes played.

The reverse kick started the Diss offensive, with the forwards led by Fraser Hall advancing into the South Woodham Ferrers half with real purpose. On 34 minutes, following excellent driving play from the pack, Jack Peacock and Josh Ludkin combined to send the impressive Warren Wilby through to score. Peacock stepped up to level the scores with half-time approaching.

With the blizzard increasing in velocity Diss stepped up the tempo after the break and attacked through both forwards and backs alike. The breakthrough eventually came when Hall was able to drive over the line to score a try crafted from the depths of the Diss front five. Peacock converted to make it 14-7 with 18 minutes remaining.

Outstanding defence then kept the visitors out before, on 86 minutes, Wilby gained possession from a deep clearance kick and showed remarkable dexterity by flicking the ball between his legs to find Kieran Pask in space on the wing. Pask raced 25 metres to the line to seal a Diss victory.

Considering the conditions both sides should be warmly congratulated on the way they played a hard-fought and very entertaining encounter.