Diss Town v Great Yarmouth Town. Saturday 30th December 2023. Report by Martin Baxter.
On a damp and overcast Saturday Yarmouth travelled to South Norfolk to face old foes Diss Town in their final match of 2023, in what looked like being yet another tough challenge for this young side.
The Tangerines sat in comfortable mid-table coming into this fixture and included ex-Bloaters skipper Kyle Baker in their line up and Yarmouth made only 1 change from last time out against Swaffham with Halliday coming in for the the unavailable Philpott.
The first opportunity of this game fell to Belmar in only the 3rd minute, when he put a half-chance from 15 yards out wide of the left hand post and 2 minutes later a very poorly timed tackle on Sanders by Diss defender Webb earned him a yellow card and with 85 minutes still to play and with Yarmouth taking the game to their opponents this yellow card put the defender on a potential tightrope.
In the 15th minute Halliday went on a surging run down the right wing and put in a very dangerous cross into the 6 yard box, however no-one in a Bloaters shirt was able to get on the end of it and the chance went begging and at this point it was the away side looking by far the more likely of the 2 sides to open the scoring and Couzens then had a couple of half-chances which he failed to convert and the one concern was that Yarmouth were not taking full advantage of their early dominance and that it might come back to bite them later in this match, as Diss were looking very threatening at set pieces and Boaters centre backs Adams and Barnes were working tirelessly to keep them at bay. .
On the half hour mark ex-Bloater and Diss skipper Baker received a sin bin yellow card for dissent and with his side a man light for the next 10 minutes it seemed that their opponents would take full advantage , however this strangely did not happen and the only real incident of note was another late tackle by a Diss defender (Yates) on Barber which earned him a yellow card and along with Webb also put him onto the proverbial tightrope. However in the 43rd minute and after several more near misses for the away side the deadlock was finally broken when a cross from Couzens was met perfectly by the in-form Sanders who finished clinically from 10 yards out to make it 1-0 and give Yarmouth something to show for their excellent first half performance.
Half time: Diss Town 0 Great Yarmouth Town 1.
The 2nd period started with Yarmouth almost doubling their lead in only the 1st minute when Couzens attempted to lob the ball over the head of Diss keeper Self from fully 30 yards out, with his effort just going over the bar by a matter of inches and 5 minutes later Webb cynically pulled back Sanders as he sailed past him and he received a 2nd yellow card and his team were now reduced to 10 men for the remaining 40 minutes. However this sending off seemed to galvanise the Tangerines and they started to put pressure on the Yarmouth defence with Baker in particular causing problems with his physical presence and substitute Yates had a golden chance to put his side level, however his shot went just wide of the left hand post and man of the match Belmar then tested Self with a strike from 15 yards out that the Diss keeper did well to stop.
French and Jacobs then both came off the bench and into the action as several of the Yarmouth players were starting to look a little leggy on a very heavy pitch that had only just about passed a late pitch inspection prior to kick off and the fresh legs started to have an immediate impact when a counter attacking move involving Jacobs ended with Couzens just putting his effort wide of the post, however full credit must go to the 10 men of Diss who were still very much in this match and were still looking very dangerous.
The deciding incident in this game came in the 81st minute when Yarmouth skipper Cantwell and Diss defender Yates became involved in a wrestling match on the touchline which ended with both players receiving yellow cards and with it being a second card for him meant Yates was also sent off and the Tangerines were now down to 9 players. The Bloaters then made 2 more late changes with Thompson and Spooner joining the battle and with their 2 man advantage the away side started to find extra space all over the park as they went hunting for the decisive 2nd goal to wrap up the 3 points and in the 86th minute following a long range free kick which sailed into the box the Diss keeper spilled the ball allowing Duffield to tap home from close range to make it 2-0, and in injury time he should have doubled his tally, however after a great team move through the middle of the park his strike came back off the woodwork and was then cleared.
The Bloaters have now extended their unbeaten run to 9 games and have moved up to 3rd position in the league table.
Full Time: Diss Town 0 Great Yarmouth Town 2. Attendance: 214.
GYTFC: Ling, Halliday, Duffield, Wilson-Towns, Adams, Barnes, Cantwell, Barber, Couzens, Sanders, Belmar. Subs: Thompson, French, Perry, Jacobs, Spooner.
Man of the match: Mitchell Belmar.
