The 1st XV travel west to face Huddersfield YMCA in North One East; the 2nd XV are at Harrogate RUFC; the 3rd XV welcome BP Chemicals; and 4th XV welcome Hornsea. On Sunday, the Ladies travel to Upper Eden in the Junior Cup.
The 1st XV make the trip to West Yorkshire to face Huddersfield YMCA, looking to make it back-to-back wins and keep the pressure on the league leaders. YMCA have always been tough competition and our games have usually been tight. Driffield and YMCA have faced-off on numerous occasions since we first met in the 2011/12 season in Yorkshire 1.Ā They gained promotion to National 3 in 2014 and enjoyed two seasons there before dropping back down to North One. Driffield have the edge in wins, winning 6 of the 12 matches played, YMCA winning 5 and there has been 1 draw. Ā Last season it was one a piece, both sides winning at home : YMCA 50 – 24, Driffield 27 – 21.
YMCA are having a tough season, are yet to record their 1st win and sit bottom of the league.Ā However, their biggest worry is that Huddersfield YMCA Sports Club has been placed into administration leading to a 33 point penalty from RFU, So they currently have -29 points.Ā More information on the administration here: https://www.huddersfieldymca.co.uk/huddersfield-ymca/
Looking through their results they are not far away from a win, and I’m sure the boys won’t be travelling expecting the win is already theirs. YMCA lost last weekend at Durham 18 – 8.Ā The week before they took a bit of battering at home to York, York leaving with a full bag of points after a 52 – 6 win.Ā YMCA lost a close game at West Hartlepool 22 – 14.
Driffield will be looking for the 8th win of the season to follow up last week’s impressive result against Percy Park.Ā It was a tight game for most of it, with Driffield scoring a couple of late tries to put the shine on the performance.Ā Most impressive was our defence and discipline. The surface was greasy meaning balls were dropped many times, but most of PP pressure was repelled.
In the squad we have a couple of changes : Sam Furbank returns at 10 as Robinson is unavailable. Longville returns to full back with Blacker back to the wing. In the pack, Maling starts with Henry Furbank on the bench.
The 2nd XV look to continue their good season as they visit Harrogate, but there are no easy games in this league.Ā Last week they had a good result against Sheffield Tigers, 17 each. Driffield are looking to stay in the top 6 of the league : after Christmas the league splits with the top 6 playing each other home and away – it’s where we need to be.
Driffield 1st XV v Huddersfield YMCA 1st XV : Saturday 23 November 2019
1 – Robson, 2 – Brumfield, 3 – Maling
4 – Dinsdale J, 5 – Cullen
6 – Sowersby, 7 – Turner, 8 – Brankley
9 – Watts, 10 – Furbank S
12 – Kelly, 13 – Dinsdale B
11 – Davies, 14 – Blacker, 15 – Longville
16 – Furbank H, 17 – Walgate, 18 – Jenkinson
Good Luck to All.