Driffield 21 – 35 Heath : Saturday, 8 March 2025

15:01 : Heath kick off
15:04 : Early pressure from the Heath forwards earns them a scrum ten metres out from the Driffield line and right of the sticks. The ball was hooked cleanly, and taken straight out of the back of the scrum, rather than going for the eight-man drive. The right winger, in a planned move, cut into the line catching the defence by surprise and found a gap to score under the sticks. Converted. D 0 – 7 H
15:07 : Following a rare venture into the Heath half, Driffield lost possession and cleared their lines with an excellent 50-20 kick to the right touch. The resulting line was taken cleanly by Heath. In an identical move to the first try, the ball was passed inside to the right winger, who took the same line to score in the same place. Converted. D 0 – 14 H
15:16 : Driffield awarded a penalty and kick to touch seven metres out on the left of the pitch. The catch-and-drive was taken, and driven slowly forward. Ramsden, at the tail, burrowed over the line to score on the 15. Napier converted. D 7 – 14 H
15:23 : Heath awarded a penalty on the 22, to left of the sticks, and converted it to extend their lead. D 7 – 17 H
15:26 : Driffield awarded a penalty, and kicked to find touch five metres out on the left side. The line-out ball was lost, allowing Heath to clear to the Driffield ten-metre line.
15:35 : Driffield had a lucky escape after Heath intercepted a loose pass on the Driffield 22, and went through clear for certain score. To the relief of the Driffield support, the referee brought it back for an earlier knock-on.
15:39 : Heath kicked a penalty from ten metres out and in front of sticks. D 7 – 20 H

15:43 : HALF TIME

15:52 : Driffield kick off.
15:54 : Mewburn shown yellow for coming in on the side of a ruck.
15:55 : From the resulting penalty, Heath kicked to touch. At the line, the catch-and-drive was halted, and the ball spun left. It looked as if the pressure would be too much, but Heath squandered the chance with a knock-on just one metre out.
15:57 : Heath pressured the resulting scrum, and Driffield just managed to get the ball to Stanyon, who cleared to just short of the 22.
15:59 : Following the line-out, Rix intercepted loose pass just outside the Driffield 22, and went the distance to score under the sticks. Napier converted, and Driffield were back in the fight. D 14 – 20 H
16:02 : But some generosity returned the favour to Heath, when an unnecessary loose pass by Driffield, 35 out, was picked up by Heath and the centre danced through the defence to score ten metres from the left. The conversion missed just to the right of the upright. D 14 – 25 H
16:06 : Mewburn returned to the fray.
16:11 : Driffield awarded a penalty just outside the Heath 22, and kicked to touch, but failed to take advantage at the resulting line-out.
16:17 : Driffield awarded another penalty on the Heath 22. Quick-thinking Napier took a quick tap, and just got through to score next to the sticks, and converted his own try to bring Driffield within sight of a possible victory. D 21 – 25 H
16:19 : Heath responded well, and drove into Driffield’s half, earning a penalty 23 metres out, which they converted to make them a core clear. D 21 – 28 H
16:29 : Following a long period of play either side of the half-way, Heath kicked through. The chasing winger picked up the bounce, and ran round under sticks for the bonus point try, converted. D 21 – 35 H
16:35 : Despite Driffield pressure, and their support hoping for a fourth try bonus point and a losing bonus, Heath managed to make progress and were stopped five metres out on the left.

16:39 : FULL TIME

Other results

• 2nd XV game was cancelled, as Heath only had ten men able to travel to Kelleythorpe
• 3rd and 4th XVs v. Goole (Away) : Goole forfeited both games as, although Driffield travelled with 43 players, Goole could only muster 22 for both games, so a practice game was held with rotating players : Driffield rotated 35 players and Goole rotated 22.  The score for the ‘friendly’ was 33 – 21.

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