On a grey day, Driffield kicked off up the slope against Sandal. Play was evenly-contested until, on 9 minutes, Sandal gave away a penalty which Watts converted to give Driffield an early lead. Sandal 0 – 3 Driffield
Sandal came straight back at Driffield, scoring a converted try after just a further 4 minutes. Sandal 7 – 3 Driffield
Just two minutes later they scored another, but the conversion went right of the posts. Sandal 12 – 3 Driffield
Driffield struggled to get up the hill and out of their half, and were lucky to hold Sandal up over the line just after the half hour. But just two minutes later Sandal broke down the left wing to score a try – the conversion attempt fell just short. Sandal 17 – 3 Driffield
Just before the half time whistle blew, Gleeson was unlucky to be stopped just one meter short after a strong run.
With the advantage of the slope in the second half, the travelling support hoped for a turn-round in fortunes, but this was not the case as Sandal held them pinned in their own half.
With ten minutes of the second half gone, a loose pass by Driffield was intercepted and a 50-yard breakaway try scored and converted. Sandal 24 – 3 Driffield
Driffield’s plight was not helped when Brankley was shown yellow just after the restart. Sandal took advantage with a try just four minutes later, but missed the conversion. Sandal 29 – 3 Driffield
Following the restart, Sandal’s best player was shown red for a blatant punch right in front of the referee.
The tide turned, first with Ramsden claiming a pushover try halfway into the second half, converted by Watts. Sandal 29 – 10 Driffield
Just six minutes later, Jenkinson took off from the halfway to score, again converted by Watts. Sandal 29 – 17 Driffield
It was another 12 minutes before Driffield scored again, Brankley picking up from the back of a 5-meter scrum to claim the points, converted by Watts. Sandal 29 – 24 Driffield.
With full-time approaching, Blacker flew down the wing to score the try wide out, to the relief of the travelling support. The conversion was missed. Sandal 29 – 29 Driffield.
Well into injury time, Sandal were awarded a penalty and went for the kick. To the relief of all Driffield support, the attempt went left. The game finished shortly after.
Summing up, Sandal will be disappointed at a second draw in a row when both games were there for the winning. If their kicker had a better day, things would have been so different.
Driffield will be relieved that they rescued three points from what looked like a lost cause. They can be justifiably pleased that they stuck at it, even though the game seemed to have slipped from their grip – once again 80-minute rugby paid off.