Driffield U17 27
Pocklington U17 12
Sunday saw the visit of local rivals Pocklington to Kellythope for a Junior Colts Yorkshire League Two clash.
Only a point separated the two sides going into the game so it was expected to be a good game. Both teams were evenly matched through the early period of the game with both sides having periods of sustained pressure.
It was Driffield who eventually broke the deadlock when Higgins forced his was over from short range with Watts adding the extra points.
Pocklington rallied and following pressure on the Driffield line forced their way over and added the conversion for last action the first half.
Driffield were now playing with the wind and Watts kicking out of hand was putting Driffield into good attacking positions.
When Driffield had the put in at a scrum five metres out Sheader evaded the Pocklington scrum half to go over.
Driffield were very much on the front foot now and when Pocklington were awarded the scrum on their five metre line Lewis took one against the head for Beachell to pick up at eight and force his way over. Watts again added the extra points.
As Driffield started to see more of the ball and an infringement from Pocklington saw Driffield given the advantage, Watts showed excellent skill to put over a drop goal.
Following a passage of midfield play from both sides Dodds made an excellent run through the Pocklington defence to score in the corner.
Pocklington were still playing good rugby and again put the Driffield line under pressure that eventually told with Pocklington forcing their way over for the last score of the game, making the final score Driffield 27 Pocklington 12.
It was an excellent game and both sides tried their best to play open rugby on a very windy day.
The Pocklington side were as ever a credit to their parents, coaches, club and most of all themselves. They gave Driffield a tough game from the first to last whistle.
The win saw Driffield move above Pocklington into second place in the table and qualify for the National under 17 competitions.
The players are now looking forward to the draw which could take them away to a team from the North West or North East.
Team: Blacker, Rhodes, Reed, Kelly, Sirr, Watts, Sheader, Harrison, Lewis, Milnes, Dodds, Southwell, Higgins, Rough, Beachell, Hesslington, Clappison, Nettleton
Driffield U10 v Goole U10
On a gloriously sunny, but fresh morning at Kelleythorpe the under 10’s team coached by Rodney Hogg took on a team from Goole in a three-match fixture.
It was evident from the first whistle that the task to contain the Goole team would take a huge team effort from Driffield with the first of a number of Goole tries coming directly from the straight running and physical size of some of the larger Goole boys.
Driffield stuck to the task, digging in with stubborn defence resulting in the leaking of fewer tries in the second half.
Driffield’s possession was restricted to a number of fast darting runs making significant inroads into the Goole half, forcing them onto the back foot.
The second game was more of a contest with Driffield restricting the number of Goole tries with that stubborn, hard tackling defence and with more possession and field position Driffield’s pressure resulted in their first try.
Having lost the first two games and in the true spirit of the game, the 3rd game was turned into a training match with the exchange of players between teams.
The resulting rugby was a much more free-flowing game, producing numerous passing and rucking phases of play from both teams.
Significantly the confidence injected into the Driffield team produced a number of outstanding team tries finished off by the Driffield man-of-the-match James.
The award of team player-of-the-match went to Sam Thompson for his high tackle count and excellent support play.
It was a steep learning curve for the young Driffield boys and a valuable lesson in the core values of rugby union football.