Driffield 22 – 32 York : Saturday, 25 January 2025

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• 14:16 York kick off into the breeze, and with the sun in their eyes
• 14:20 York exerting early pressure in the Driffield 22, but the home defence was solid
• 14:24 Now it was Driffield’s turn to put pressure on the York defence.  Finally,the ball was lost and York cleared their lines to the 22
• 14:28 Driffield continued the pressure, eventually costing York a penalty 15 out and left of the sticks.  Stanyon stepped up for the conversion, which was good and were the first points to be shown on the new scoreboard.  D 3 – 0 Y
• 14:31 Driffield kept the pressure after the restart, earning them another penalty 15 out left, in a very similar position to the first.  Stanyon’s conversion was good.  D 6 – 0 Y
• 14:33 Now it was York’s turn to attack, and Driffield did well to hold them up over the line
• 14:35 York strung together 18 phases of play, but were unable to breach the solid Driffield defence
• 14:40 Driffield returned to attack and, once again York were penalised 25 out.  Stanyon once again converted.  D 9 – 0 Y
• 14:42 Soon after, it was York’s turn to be awarded a penalty.  The conversion from 35 out and left of the sticks was well-taken, getting them off the mark.  D 9 – 3 Y
• 14:44 York transgressed once again, and the referee awarded Driffield a penalty 25 out, in front of the sticks.  Stanyon’s boot was again successful.  D 12 – 3 Y
• 14:49 Once again, York offended.  The referee’s patience with them had reached its limit and their inside centre was given 10 minutes to reflect on things
• 14:50 From the resulting penalty 45 out, Stanyon gave it a great whack, the ball travelled straight and true and … bounced out off the crosssbar for the narrowest of misses
• 14:54 Driffield were awarded yet another penalty five out on the left side.  The tap and go attack was thwarted by a Driffield player crossing in front of the ball carrier
• 15:01 With not long to go before half time, York found another player in the bin, after Tom Sowersby had picked up a loose ball and shot through a gap to make 25 yards.  The ball was shipped out wide to Brankley, who went in wide left to score.  Stanyon converted to end the half.  D 19 – 3 Y

HALF TIME

• 15:08 Driffield kicked off, into the breeze and with the lowering sun now well in their eyes.
• 15:13 York attacked well, and kicked the ball kick to 10 out from the Driffield line.  Driffield lost the lineout on their own ball, and York worked the ball left.  Finally, the centre cut back in through the smallest of gaps to score with two men outside him.  The conversion was missed.  D 19 – 8 Y
• 15:16 York now seemed a different team, with their forwards starting to dominate the set piece.  One of their attacks was held up over line
• 15:20 York awarded a penalty, kicked to touch five out on right side of the pitch
• 15:22 Following the lineout, a scrum was awarded five out.  The York scrum-half dummied the pass to fool the defence and go round under sticks.  The conversion was good.  D 19 – 15 Y
• 15:26 A York line out ten yards out on the right side, secured the ball, which was worked left.  With a man to spare, the try was scored to give York the lead for the first time, but the conversion missed.  D 19 – 20 Y
• 15:31 Driffield were awarded a penalty just inside the 22, on the left side.  The conversion by Stanyon was again good to give Driffield the lead back.  D 22 – 20 Y
• 15:39 There was then a long period of play where York continued to press, but Driffield managed to keep them out.  Driffield were starting to give away penalties, and Will Robson was shown yellow for a line out offence
• 15:43 York worked the ball to the right, and went in at the corner.  The referee awarded the try, after consulting the touch judge to confirm that there was no foot in touch, to give York the bonus point.  The conversion was missed.  D 22 – 25 Y
• 15:49 York continued to press, working left and right and probing for a gap.  Eventually, they found one on the left of the pitch to score 10 yards in.  The conversion was good and Driffield had lost the losing bonus point opportunity unless they could score again.  D 22 – 32 Y
• 15:57 Try as they might, Driffield could not make sufficient progress to close the gap to seven or fewer, and the final whistle went to the disappointment of the home support.

FULL TIME

The loss drops Driffield from seventh to eighth in the league, leap-frogged by Alnwick who had an excellent home win against fourth-placed Heath.

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