THIS was a game that Chelmsford will want to forget.
Chelmsford travelled to Diss with many of the regular first team players unavailable and by the end of the game only six players remained on the pitch who had played the previous league game.
This does not take any credit away from an accomplished Diss side. They were always quicker to the breakdown and displayed excellent handling skills and could pass the ball in the tackle to other team-mates ready to back up.
The game began with Chelmsford on the attack and for 20 minutes they looked to be the side most likely to score.
After 28 minutes the Diss backs cut through to score an unconnected try.
At that time, James Crouch, the Chelmsford second row left the field with a hamstring injury.
Throughout the first half the game was well contested, Chelmsford won their scrums and line-outs, but Diss on the break were proving difficult to stop.
Chelmsford made it easy for the opposition with poor tackling around the fringes of the scrum and in the backs.
Diss scored two more tries in quick succession making it 17-0 at half-time. Chelmsford were still competing hard and came close to scoring themselves on several occasions.
The second half, however, can only be described as total one way traffic.
Jack Venn had to go off through injury and a lack of tackling and organisation gave away a further six tries.
A feature of the season for Chelmsford has been the quality of the defence. On Saturday that commitment was not there.
The Chelmsford pack had a fair game with Nick Sani and Simon Quinn doing their utmost to plug the gaps and take the game to Diss.
Coach Eddie Gooby was a very disappointed man after the game.
"Diss looked a good side and will no doubt be looking for promotion at the end of the season," he said.
"We cannot continue going away to play games with young and inexperienced players and expect to win.
"I have high hopes for next week against Basildon when we will have a lot of our front line players back."
This Saturday Chelmsford host Basildon at Coronation Park, 2pm kick-off.