1st XV host Morley RUFC; 2nd XV travel to Morley; 3/4 XV travel to Hornsea.
A warm welcome awaits Morley RUFC for our North One East league fixture. This is the 4th league game this season, and with both teams having 100% records, it is sure to be a entertaining game.
Morley arrive with 3 wins under their belt : a 29 – 10 home win against West Hartlepool on the 1st weekend, followed by a 18 – 17 win at York and last week they beat Durham City 21 – 8 at home. Reading the match reports from the Morley v Durham game, Morley scored most of their points in a 10-minute spell just before half time but couldn’t manage to get the 4th bonus point try. Match report here: https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/morleyrfc/news/third-win-sees-morley-in-3rd-position-2469374.html . Morley have made 3 changes from last week’s win.
Last year Morley finished 3rd in North One East, with 89 points. Morley won both our fixtures last season : 39 – 7 at their place this time last year and 36 – 24 at Kelleythorpe later in the season. This followed their relegation from North Premier the season before. Last year’s match report can be found here: https://driffieldrufc.com/2019/01/22/driffield-24-36-morley-saturday-19-january-2019/
Taking a look back through the history of matches between the two sides does not make good reading for Driffield supporters. We have met 8 times so far in league action, with Morley winning all 87 (as far as history on RFU.com goes). We hope that will change this weekend.
Driffield will be looking to make it 4 wins from 4. Last weekend’s victory over Kendal was pretty much one-sided, with the game just about over and done by half-time. A little lapse in concentration during a red card gave Kendal a small hope they could come back into it, but Driffield got back into it and put the game to bed. Final score was Driffield 46 – 12 Kendal. Match report here: https://driffieldrufc.com/2019/09/22/driifield-46-12-kendal-saturday-21-september-2019/
We make three changes to our starting side from last weekend : Sam Syson starts at prop in place of Felix Nellen (unavailable), with Mark Blenkinsop joining the bench for his 1st run out of the season. Ben Blacker comes in on the wing for Harry Jackson (injured) and John Soanes returns to the starting line up replacing Gary Stephenson (injured).
Our 2nd XV make the trip to Morley for their league fixture. The 2nds had a tough loss away at Scunthorpe last weekend, losing 45 – 21. They are taking a strong-looking side and will be hoping to return with the points.
Our 3rds and 4ths join up once again at this early stage of the season, travelling to Hornsea. No game for the Ladies this weekend.
We also welcome James Mackenzie and his staff from The Pipe & Glass, South Dalton. James is cooking lunch for the pre-match dinners, and the players suppers this Saturday. Proceeds from the day will be split between DRUFC and our chosen charity for this season, Prostate Cancer.
Driffield 1st XV v Morley 1st XV, Saturday 28/09/2019 KO 3pm.
1 – Sam Syson, 2 – G Brumfield, 3 – S Robson
4 – J Dinsdale, 5 – O Cooper
6 – A Cullen, 7 – R Mewburn (c), 8 – A Brankley
9 – J Robinson, 10 – S Furbank
12 – K Dench, 13 – J Soanes
11 – B Blacker, 14 – B Dinsdale, 15 – J Watts
16 – M Blenkinsop, 17 – K Turner, 18 – R Kelly.
Referee – Nia Parsonage (Yorkshire RFU Society)
Good Luck to All