Clive Bell on recording his first victory as head coach of Diss Rugby Club against Thurston

Clive Bell hailed an impressive performance from Diss Rugby Club which saw them triumph in his first home game as head coach at Mackenders on Saturday.

Diss brought a halt to a run of four straight defeats in Counties 1 Eastern Counties with a 25-18 win against basement dwellers Thurston at the weekend.

The victory helped Diss open up a 10-point gap on the division’s bottom side, as well as a four-point lead on 11th-placed Ipswich YM, as they look to quickly steer themselves clear of a possible relegation battle.

“It was a must-win game really,” Bell reflected. “The main thing I was pleased with is the new systems and what we’re trying to do and implement started to come to life.

“You could really see a good buzz around the guys. They were just working hard and getting in the right positions and that’s the stuff we’re looking for.

“We were in control of the game most of time, but there was probably 10-15 minutes where we wobbled a little bit.

“We started strong and we finished strong and saw out the victory. I was really impressed with the whole squad and everyone that was involved.”

Tries from Alex Hutchinson, Tiger Shaw, Thomas Webster and Matthew Richards, along with a penalty and a conversion by Hutchinson, saw Diss to their maiden victory under new boss Bell.

After losing his opening game in charge on the road at Cantabrigian (35-17) the weekend before, it was a winning start at Mackenders for the former Ipswich chief, who was thrilled with the welcome he received from the home crowd.

“That’s something I want to mention,” he said. “The home support was fantastic.

“There was comments from the boys saying you could hear the support. It was great and a lot of people came out to watch.

“I had some good feedback from people saying they could see what I’m trying to do.

“I just want to say a thank you to the home fans. They gave us a real boost while the lads were playing.”

Diss (10th) are back on the road when they travel to seventh-placed Shelford II tomorrow (2pm), with five points separating the two sides ahead of the weekend.

“The focus is already on the next game and I think the boys are starting to believe that actually they can do this,” Bell said.

“We’re looking to replicate the same sort of performance over the next few weeks.

“It’s just about tweaking and getting things right. I always look at how much effort we’re putting in and how much purpose we’re putting in to aspects of the game and I can’t fault anybody for that.

“The bottom of the table is pretty close. We’re third from bottom, but we’re only two points off West Norfolk who are above us.

“If we get a win on Saturday we could be sitting in seventh and I think that would release a bit of pressure off the boys.”