Diss Town manager pleased with continued progress following FA Cup exit and first league victory
It’s rare a manager is pleased with his side’s performance after they have suffered a 4-0 defeat.
But in the main, that is how Michael King felt after Diss Town had been knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday at Stamford AFC.
The Lincolnshire-based hosts ply their trade two levels above the Tangerines at Step 4 – and are highly fancied to be challenging for promotion this term.
Yet, a well organised Diss proved themselves to be stubborn opposition at the Zeeco Stadium, not conceding until inside the final 15 minutes before the floodgates opened.
King said: “We were terrific for a large part of Saturday, which feels a strange thing to say after a 4-0 defeat.
“We had a plan to break the game down into four stages and we managed to get to game four without conceding.
“Nobody would have given us a chance to do that and it says a lot about the lads we’ve got that they managed that.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with how they played.”
The good feeling continued on Tuesday evening when Diss picked up their first Thurlow Nunn League First Division North points of the season with a 2-0 home win over neighbouring Debenham LC.
Skipper Kyle Baker broke the deadlock within 60 seconds before Kieran Hagan – provider of Diss’ opener – added a second goal in the 20th minute.
“We stressed the importance before the game of getting our first league win,” added King.
“We wanted to be on the front foot and to make a fast start, but we didn’t expect to score that early!
“We could have been out of sight at half-time because we created a few more chances and didn’t take them.
“There was a bit of tiredness in the second half from Saturday and I think a bit of excitement that we were closing in on our first three points.
“That allowed Debenham back into the game and it was probably our worst performance defensively so far this season in the last 15 minutes or so. But overall we are delighted to have got the three points.”
Diss will now turn their focus to the Buildbase FA Vase tomorrow when they host Fakenham Town (3pm).