It’s Derby Day round 2 as our 1st XV travel to Pocklington. Our 2nds welcome Harrogate, 3/4ths welcome Pocklington 3rds and our Ladies travel to Boston Ladies on Sunday.
Driffield 1st XV make the short trip across the Wolds to face Pocklington RUFC in North One East. Pocklington has not been a happy hunting ground for the Woldsmen for the past few seasons. The last time we won at Pocklington was in the 2015/16 season 20 – 22. Since then we have lost 3 times – Pock had a season in the league above so we missed each other for one season). The last time we faced each other was 14th December last season at Kelleythorpe, when Driffield won 33 – 10. We have faced each other 12 times in league action since 2011 : it is currently 6 apiece in wins – 5 at home and 1 away each.
Pocklington currently sit 2nd bottom after a slow start to this year’s campaign. They are yet to register a win, but have 3 bonus points. They lost at home to Moortown on the first weekend 17 – 26, followed by losing at West Hartlepool 24 – 20. A narrow loss at York followed, finishing 24 – 30. Last week they suffered a heavy defeat at Durham, losing 62 – 10. A few strange results : York v Pock is a big local derby – from what I have heard Pock dominated at the scrum but could not convert that into points. Moortown look as though they are going to be a strong side, West Hartlepool is always a tough place to visit and Durham seem like they will be hot or cold depending which week it is. I’m sure Pocklington will be looking to get their season started – hopefully we don’t oblige.
Driffield carried on their great start, making it 4 from 4 for the season. Beating Morley for the 1st time ever (in league match) was just what we wanted. I mentioned in last week’s preview that I thought the Morley game would show how we are looking for the season. The 39 – 29 win shows we can compete with anyone in the league. Full match report here: https://driffieldrufc.com/2019/09/30/driffield-39-29-morley-saturday-28-september-2019/ – no match report from the Morley side.
A negative from the game was the injury to Club Captain Rob Mewburn : he is set for a spell on the sidelines to allow his ribs and neck to recover. Kyle Turner starts in Rob’s place, with Brant coming onto the bench. In the front row Blenkinsop is unavailable, but we have Nellen available this week, so they swap, meaning Syson starts on the bench again. R Girking takes the remaining place on the bench.
It is early days, but the league is starting to take some shape. Bradford join us as the only unbeaten teams. Pocklington and YMCA are both still looking for a win: Full league can be found here: http://rfunorth.com/tables/2019-20%20tables/Northern%20Division%20tables,%20Sept%2028%202019.htm
Results from last week saw Durham beat Pocklington 62 – 10 ; Scarborough won 35 – 10 at YMCA ; Kendal got their 1st win beating Percy Park 21 – 15 in Cumbria ; Moortown and Cleckheaton played out a draw at Moortown ; Bradford won 28 – 12 at West Hartleppol ; in the final game York beat Malton 35 – 17.
Our 2nd team carry on with their league action as they host Harrogate 2nds – another tough game for our young 2nd team. We welcome newcomers Ben Johnson and Ryan Longville to DRUFC for their 1st outing. Ben has moved into the area from down south. Ryan has joined us from Southern Districts on the player exchange system we have with them. Hopefully you both enjoy your time with us.
The 3rds/4ths welcome Pocklington 3rds. Rob Norm’s men will be looking to carry on their start to the season.
The Ladies are back in action on Sunday as they make the trip to Boston. I would imagine this will be the 1st time Driffield and Boston have met at any level of rugby. The ladies will be looking to carry their 100% start to the season after wins against Lincoln and Hull Ionians. I believe they are travelling by coach, so if anyone fancies a Sunday out, get in touch and see if you can get on the coach.
Driffield 1st XV v Pocklington 1st XV : Saturday, 5 October 2019. KO 3pm
1 Nellen, 2 Brumfield, 3 Robson
4 Cooper, 5 Dinsdale, J
6 Cullen, 7 Turner, 8 Brankley
9 Robinson, 10 Furbank
12 Kelly, 13 Soanes
11 Blacker, 14 Dinsdale, B 15 Watts
16, Brant, 17 Syson, 18 Girking.
Good Luck to all Blue, Black & White.