We started where we left off last week against Durham City, looking
threatening from the off. Gareth Foreman neatly sidestepped the rush-up
defence after only 4 minutes to touch down for the opening score and
and add the simple conversion himself.
Lee Birch had the chance
to get Driffield on the board after 7 minutes but his penalty was always
to the right of the posts. The kicking tee had barely had chance to get
off the field before it was needed again though, this time Birch making
no mistake from a straighter angle.
We bounced straight back
with another visit to the 22 and another try. Andrew Foreman's tap
penalty started the move before brother Gareth's break took him close to
the line. As the ball came along the backline Gav Robinson did well to
stay on his feet after a high-tackle and then muscle his way over under
the posts, to leave Foreman another straight-forward conversion.
Birch
again had the chance to respond on 14 minutes but as with his first
attempt, the ball drifted past the right post. Looking threatening every
time we attacked it was only 3 minutes before the third try was on the
board. The back row combined superbly from the base of a scrum with
first Stephen Stockdale charging forward before offloading to Jonny and
then Dan Boatman who was stopped just short. Quickly recycled ball saw
Gareth Foreman able to skip round his man and get his second score, once
again adding the conversion himself.
To their credit, Driffield
looked to run the ball at every opportunity and their backs worked a try
for Birch on 25 minutes. Quick-ball off the lineout and slick handling
saw the full-back come into the line at pace and finish well. His
conversion hit the post but the visitors continued to press and minutes
after Stockdale was yellow carded for repeat infringements in the 22,
Birch slotted another penalty when we were harshly penalised for a
deliberate knock on.
Foreman should have cancelled that straight
out with a penalty almost from the restart but it was scuffed wide and
the score remained 21-11 until the break. Despite Driff's resurgence in
the latter part of the half it still seemed like we would go on to win
the game comfortably but as the second half got underway it was clear
the visitors had other ideas.
The always-dangerous Birch got his
second try just 4 minutes in, breaking down the blind-side of a scrum
and fighting off the last man for a score in the corner. He also added
the wide-conversion to close the gap to just 3 points.
We became
increasingly frustrated as attacks broke down and we couldn't penetrate
the visitors defence as we had in the early part of the game. Driffield
hooker James Holland was extremely unlucky to be yellow-carded for a
trip on Stockdale with around 15 minutes to go but while he was off the
field his side took the lead for the first time. We were attacking on
the 22 but a long miss-pass in the backs was picked off by Ali McClarron
who raced away for an interception try. Birch's conversion made it
21-25 and we all of a sudden had to wake up to the reality that the game
was slipping away.
Thankfully the lead only lasted 3 minutes as,
undeterred by the previous interception we again tossed the ball wide
and although Darren Thomas was tackled well on the wing he managed to
off-load to Gareth Foreman and the fly-half completed his hat-trick in
the right corner. The difficult conversion was missed leaving a slender
one point lead but we kept up the pressure and with just a minute of
normal time remaining Adam Coates emerged from the bottom of a rolling
maul as the scorer of our fifth try. Driffield still had a few minutes
to regain the lead, thanks to the conversion sliding wide again, but two
balls lost in contact proved crucial as we held on for another
important victory.
West: C Cheslin, Thomas, Watson, G
Robinson, A Cheslin, G Foreman, A Foreman, Norris, A Dixon, Coates,
Miller, T Dixon, D Boatman, J Boatman, Stockdale.
Reps: Mills, Rudd, Larkin.
Tries: G Foreman 3, G Robinson, Coates.
Cons: G Foreman 3
Driffield:
Birch, Furbank, Smith, Wright, McClarron, Harding, Gray, Waterhouse,
Holland, Llewellyn, Borman, Cooper, Hedges, Stephenson, Hamilton.
Reps: Mitchell-Williams, Dervey, Short.
Tries: Birch 2, McClarron.
Cons: Birch 2
Pens: Birch 2
Referee: Alistair Jones [Cumbria]