Robbie Harris delighted as Parson Drove claim point away at Diss Town

Parson Drove boss Robbie Harris has spoken of his pride after seeing his depleted squad claim a point away at Diss Town.

Drove had just 11 players available for the trip to a side currently sitting sixth in the Thurlow Nunn First Division North standings, with Harris himself taking to the field.

Their equaliser came via a late own goal, but Harris said the way his side went about their business was the most pleasing aspect.

"The lads were superb on Saturday. I would go so far as to say it was one of our best performances in terms of effort, grit and determination," he said.

"To go 1-0 down relatively late on and still fight and grab a point shows great character from the lads that were able to attend the game on Saturday.

"I'm really pleased. We went into the dressing room at half-time saying it had been pretty even across the board, but that we'd had the better chances.

"None of them were major chances, but we felt we could go on and get the three points.

"We did know there were going to be a couple of legs that were going to go, and we were just praying there were no injuries or sending offs at that point."

Drove's starting lineup included Ted Haime, who hadn't played in four months prior to the game and still hasn't fully recovered from his injury.

They had went behind to a Spencer Cawcutt strike, but fought back to claim a valuable point.

"It could have gone one of two ways," Harris added.

"We could have completely rolled over and shipped five or six, but we didn't.

"Every one of the lads fought for each other. The togetherness we showed is what I'm most proud of.

"Towards the start of the season, we would concede one and it would turn into two, three, four quite quickly.

"We didn't this week, and that's been the same over the past two or three months.

"On Saturday, we didn't look like we were going to concede. We looked like we were going to ride it out.

"When we did and still pushed on to grab a point, it showed what the lads are about.

"I would have been more disappointed for the lads than about the result if we'd come away with nothing."

Drove are now gearing up for a home clash against 13th-placed Leiston Reserves, who are one point behind them but have played two games fewer.

With that in mind, Harris spoke of the importance the fixture has within their season.

"They're another team that are down there at the moment that we've got every chance of getting three points against," he said.

"If we show the same levels of determination of fight and play reasonably well on the day, I think we'll win.

"They were one of the teams that turned us over at the start of the season, so we owe them one. We need to put that right and put in a decent performance.

"We're starting to build something. I know results don't always go our way, but we are starting to build something.

"We could really have a push next season. We didn't really expect too much this year, we knew it was going to be a building process."

Parson Drove vs Diss Town: Watson, Haime, Gear, Harris, Brown, Calvert, Davey, Jackson, Lennon, G. Smith, K. Smith)