Driffield Men 1st 8
Leeds Gryphons 3rd 0
With three successive wins over some tough opposition, Driffield faced bottom of the table Leeds Gryphons 3rds in their last match of 2013. Despite their lowly position, Leeds have proved to be a quick and skilful team, having taken points of Driffield the previous season.
The match started off evenly, with both teams having efforts on goal in the first five minutes. However it was Driffield who were able to grab the lead, when on eight minutes a penalty corner routine saw Oli Richardson smash home through the keeper’s legs.
It wasn’t long before Driffield got their second. A swift counter-attacking move involving Shephard and Cherry put Richardson clear again and his cheeky back stick flick beat the keeper.
Driffield’s dominance was confirmed, when an inch perfect aerial ball from Measom found Cherry who controlled the ball and slotted the ball under the advancing keeper for 3-0.
If Leeds had thought that Driffield would ease off a little, then they had another thing coming! A cross from Ant Allison on the right flashed across goal and that man Richardson was on hand to deftly flick the ball through the keeper’s legs yet again, for his hat-trick.
Allison was to get on the scoresheet himself just minutes later. Leeds were caught in possession again by Driffield’s lightning attack and Allison found himself with just the keeper to beat, slotting home to make it 5-0.
Driffield still weren’t done. On the stroke of half time Richardson was yet again fed the perfect ball and lashed home from close in to make it 6-0 at half time.
The shell-shocked Leeds side regrouped in the second half and played a much tighter, defensive game to minimise the damage. Indeed this worked for them for a long time in the second half, as Driffield found it much harder to break down their back line.
Despite this, Driffield were able to stroke the ball around and enjoy their hockey.
Even defenders such as Harris and Gate were popping up in the opposition circle to try their luck at goal.
It wasn’t until late on that Driffield got their 7th. Robson and Cherry both went close, forcing saves from the keeper, but Ant Allison got hold of the rebound and smashed an unstoppable shot in off the bar.
A rare attack from Leeds saw Driffield move the ball up the field quickly to find Richardson, whose slide-rule pass found Allison who completed his own hattrick.
So a superb end to 2013 for Driffield Men’s 1st XI, with eight goals and a clean sheet, putting pressure on Leeds Gryphons 2nds at the top of the table, and sending a clear message out to the rest of the division – Driffield mean business.
Thanks go to Dodds Solar (main club sponsor), Cherry’s Country Hardware of North Frodingham (men’s sponsor) and Original Keys of Driffield (refreshments and away match sponsor) for their continued support of Driffield Men’s hockey team.