Driffield 1st XV welcome Pocklington 1st XV; 2nd team head to Yarnbury ; 4ths go to Pocklington.
DRIFFIELD v POCKLINGTON : 2PM Kick Off.
Pocklington are the visitors to Kelleythorpe this Saturday for our fixture in North One East. The Woldsmen will be hoping to overturn their 36 – 24 defeat at Pocklington on the 2nd week of the season back in September. This fixture should mark the beginning of the second half of the season. However, our abandoned game against Morpeth is to being played next weekend : only after that will we have faced every team in the league.
The game back in September was a strange one. Pock made a good start and were 36 – 10 up with 30 minutes left, Driffield then decided they wanted to play rugby, and made a bit of fight of it, a last-minute try making the final score 36 – 24.
Driff & Pock have played each other 11 times in league action since 2011/12 season in Yorkshire 1. Currently 6 – 5 to Pock, with home advantage leading the way, Pock winning 5 at home, Driff 4, and we both have 1 away win.
Pocklington are having a bit of strange season after their relegation from North Premier last season. They started really strongly, winning their 1st three fixtures, 27 – 26 v Brid (h), 36 – 24 v Driff (h) and 19 – 23 v Consett (a). They then lost at Home to Morley 22- 23 and lost at Percy Park 18 – 12. They beat Malton 29 – 3 (h), they then lost the next 5 games, B&B (a) 55 -27, Scarborough (h) 29 – 36, Cleck (a) 20 -17, YMCA (h) 16 – 18 and Morpeth (a) 17 – 10. They have won their last two games, beating West Leeds 27 – 26 (h) and York 17 – 31 (a) last time out. They currently occupy 11th place in the league with 31 points, 3 points behind us.
Driffield will be aiming to continue their improving form. Last week’s win in Leeds was another great result. Driffield took control of the game, and never looked like losing. Injuries are starting to heal and players are returning to strengthen the squad every week. The next two weeks could make our season : a couple of wins and we will be back n the hunt. Captain Rob Mewburn is making strides and will take his place on the bench again this week.
The league continues to be one of, if not the, strongest in recent memory. Brid are currently in 12th place with 31 points, York in 5th with 41. 10 points covering 8 places. Morpeth 4th 44, B&B 3rd 45, YMCA 2nd 48, and Scarborough still lead the way with 50 points in the bag. Last weekend B & B beat Brid, 24 -10, Cleck beat Percy Park 43 – 5, Morley, after losing at home to Cleck the week before, beat YMCA in Huddersfield 12 -14. Morpeth beat Consett 55 – 7, Scarborough dominated Malton 41 – 26, I have mentioned the Driffield & Pock results. With Consett already looking doomed, West Leeds look in some trouble, but after that it could be any run of results that would mean top 2 or 3rd bottom.
This weekend’s fixtures are as hard to call as always. B & B host Cleck, Consett host York, Malton host YMCA, Leeds derby as Morley host West Leeds, North East derby as Percy Park host Morpeth, and another East Yorkshire derby with Scarborough hosting Brid. try and pick the winners out of that lot. Some great rugby, I’m sure, and a fantastic advertisement for our level of rugby.
- 1st Team : no team news at present.
- 2nd team : head to Yarnbury in the hunt to qualify for the super 6s. They currently lie in 7th place, and need to win at Yarnbury and hope Ilkley beat Doncaster Phoenix, good luck to our lads.
- 3rd team : had a game against Withernsea, but Withernsea didn’t fancy travelling so have scratched..
- 4th team : head to Pocklington to play Pock 3rds.
Don’t forget its our Christmas Party after the game on Saturday, why not hang around and celebrate another year with DRUFC.
Good luck to all.