March Town were handed their first defeat in three Thurlow Nunn Division One games after they slipped to a 3-1 loss to Diss Town Reserves.

The young Hares side went into the tie buoyed by three consecutive league successes – including an excellent 7-0 win over AFC Sudbury Reserves last weekend - but were frustrated by their opponents in the opening exchanges of the tie on Saturday afternoon.

Diss, who sit in sixth position in the league standings, also failed to carve out any meaningful chances, and the sides went into the break goalless.

The opening goal of the game came in the 79th minute, when referee Peter Venables pointed to the spot following a foul in the Hares’ penalty area.

Jamie George converted the spot kick, but Chris Bartlett’s men weren’t behind for long, as Dan Woods curled home equaliser minutes later.

The Hares’ joy was short lived, however, as Diss retook the lead with only minutes to go, and the visitors made sure of the points at the death with a third.

March, whose three consecutive wins saw them climb into the top half of the table and into ninth, now have two league games remaining, starting with their penultimate clash of their campaign against Stowmarket Town on Wednesday night (April 20, 7.45pm).