Both teams looked to run the ball whenever possible but countless handling errors led to a bit of a stop-start affair. However, it was quite an entertaining game to watch of the large crowd in attendance.

West will be disappointed to have lost the game from a very winnable position. When makeshift winger Dan Boatman crashed in for a try it looked as though the visitors were heading for a victory only to concede two tries and see the win snatched away. While West will be disappointed to come up just short on the road once again mention has to be made of the improvement in away form this season. Last year this fixture brought about a 49-0 drubbing but there was no sign of that kind of dominance today. Next season the task will be turn these 'nearly wins' into league points in order to make a push for the promotion places.

West started with one change from the advertised team as Martin Todd was struggling to navigate the York ring-road so Darren Thomas started at full-back.

Driffield opened the scoring on 9 minutes with a try through Karl Birch which he converted himself but West responded within 2 minutes when Phil Henderson made good ground and the move eventually led to a score for Henry Tones which Paul Moss also converted to tie the scores.

West had looked dangerous from a couple of rolling mauls and went into the lead when Tim Sawyer steered one over the line in the left corner and touched down just inside the corner flag. Moss couldn't recreate his spectaculor conversion from the Rovers game, coming up just short from wide out.

The West backline had to be rearranged when Peter Hodgson took a nasty knock and had to leave the field and with Todd still not at the ground Dave Garside came in at second row, Paul Rudd moving to flanker and Dan Boatman out to the wing, Chris Lambert moving inside to centre.

Driffield dominated the rest of the half and saw at least two tries go begging with dropped passes. West were tenatious in defence though and some great scrambling work forced the hosts into some of their errors and never made it easy to score. Despite the lengthy pressure half time came with no points added to their tally and a real confidence boost for West.

West had enjoyed the slight benefit of a blustery cross field wind in the first half but it wasn't giving sufficient advantage to think as 12-7 lead was not good enough.

Birch added a penalty to close the gap early in the second half but after some sustained pressure in Driffield territory great handling by Lambert gave Boatman half a chance and like a good winger he finished well in the corner despite the covering tackle. Moss was again unsuccesful with the wide conversion but it seemed like a crucial score and one that would see West to victory.

But concentration lapsed and from the restart the ball was moved wide but lost and as Driffild looked to capatilse won a penalty and taking the quick tap they spread the ball wide to Piercy who forced his way over in the corner despite a last-ditch double tackle. After a long consultation with the Driffield touch-judge the try was awarded and when Birch nailed his toucline converion the scores were tied.

A draw would have not been an unfair result as neither team had really fired on all cylinders but both would have felt they deserved something from the game. Bouyed by the quick response it looked like if either side were to nick the win it would be the Yorkshire outfit.

And so it proved, Birch launched a huge up and under which Thomas and Lambert struggled to deal with, Lambert eventually touching down over the line but having already touched the ball gave a 5 metre scrum to the hosts. The scrum took a sharp wheel and when number eight Jones picked up and span out of the tackle of Davy Tighe he had an easy passage to the line, touching down to complete an improbable comeback.

There were a few minutes left to play and West tried valiantly to keep the ball alive but another dropped pass saw the final whistle come and Driffield cement their league position of fifth.


West: Thomas, Lambert, Edwards, Hodgson (Garside (Todd)), Weegram, Moss, Tighe, Carr, Norris, Robinson, Rudd, Henderson, D Boatman, Tones, Sawyer
Rep not used: Bennett

Tries: Tones, Sawyer, D Boatman
Con: Moss

Driffield:Thompson, Anderson, Stephenson, Plumridge, Piercy, Birch, Foster, Rowntree (Ridsdale), Lunn (Mitchell-Williams), Yates, Chapman, Turton, Hyde, Cook, Jones.

Tries: Birch, 11, 8
Cons: Birch 2
Pen: Birch