Tangerines denied all the points in a first meeting with Borough

THURLOW NUNN LEAGUE

FIRST DIVISION

Diss Town 1

Haverhill Borough 1

Diss Town were denied a win in their first-ever meeting against Haverhill Borough as Matt Staines scored a late equaliser to secure a draw.

After seeing their promotion hopes dented by having to now replay three games where they fielded an ineligible player, the Tangerines were looking to start a climb back up the First Division table on Saturday.

With goalkeeper Matt Powley unavailable Diss manager Ross Potter brought in William Izod in goal, while Stefan Gilding returned to the club to slot in at centre-back.

Haverhill made the early running and had the better of the chances in the first-half, as Matt Staines curled a shot just past the far upright in the fifth minute.

The Tangerines won a number of corners but were mainly having to defend, however it was a mystery how Diss did not score before half-time when the ball bobbled along the goal-line and no-one was able to force the ball over.

Potter’s men played better in the first 15 minutes of the second-half and profited from their ability to get Callum Olpin more into the game.

Diss took the lead in the 61st minute when Aaron Forshaw was penalised for handball in the area and Jamie George slotted the rebound home from his saved penalty.

The Tangerines should have had another penalty in the 85th minute when George sped between two defenders and was clearly pushed down, but no penalty was awarded.

Just as Diss looked like they might grind out a 1-0 victory, the visitors equalised in the final minutes to secure a share of the spoils.

Cameron Watson combined with Johnny Milne and found Staines in the area, who scored from close range to make it 1-1.

Both sides went looking for the winner in the nine minutes of added time, but the score stayed level.

The draw saw Diss drop one place to 16th in the table, ahead of visiting Woodbridge Town tomorrow (3pm).