Super Saturday @ Driffield RUFC
What a weekend we have ahead of us, 1st’s, 2nd’s & 4th’s all looking to join the 3rd team in the finals for their season trophy.
Firstly, the 1st xv welcome Syston RUFC to Kelleythorpe in the semi-final of the Papa John’s Community Cup with a trip to Twickenham for the final on the line. Syston currently play in Regional 1 Midlands, which is the same level as our Regional 1 North league. They finished the season in 3rd place, winning 16 & losing 6. Syston gained promotion from Midlands 1 East in the 19/20 season into Midlands 1, which was then split up into the regional leagues we have seen this season. the only comparisons i can find to give us an idea of what standard they are is, in the 20/21 season they played Sheffield, Paviors, Scunthorpe & Doncaster Phoenix in the league. They lost to Sheffield on both occasions, 6-7 at home & 24 – 20 at Sheffield, They lost at Scunthorpe 26- 24 whilst winning the home fixture 41-17, They did the double of Paviors, 55-14 at home & 12-17 away, they also did the double over Doncaster Phoenix 39-27 at home, 10-29 away. Obviously not a team to take lightly.
Their route to this point of the cup has been very straightforward, they have only played the one fixture away at Wimbledon, winning 29-46. There other two games, away at Bridgnorth & home to Colchester were both conceded. Giving them 15 points and trip to the wolds.
Our outstanding win against Alnwick 2 weeks ago plus the great result at Rossendale, meant we already knew we had qualified for the semi final straight after the Alnwick game.
The other Semi-final see’s Heath travel too Havant, a 5 hour trip, however we coup still see a ll Regional 1 North Final.
Saturday is sure to be one of our biggest in our history, the committee is working to ensure everything is on place to accommodateT the large number of visitors we expect to join us on Saturday. Bars open at 1pm, pay on the gate for entrance, food stalls available all day. The main car park will be reserved for Players, Staff & the visiting committee attending lunch, all other guests will be directed to park on the Dee & Atkinson sale ground.
Reports from the coaching staff indicate that they will have to select from a full squad, with no one declaring un-fit to play, which is great news.
Not to be out done, the second team welcome Billingham 2nds to Kelleythorpe in their semi final of the Yorkshire Merit League Play-offs. Driffield finished 2nd in the league, behind winners Wharfdale. Like the 1st XV squad, the 2nds have a full squad to choose from, and are looking to but our their strongest side of the season. I believe Wharfdale host Tynedale Raiders in the other semi – final. Kick off for this on e is 3pm at Kelleythorpe.
The 4th team are the last team to target a final (Technically 1st as they are kicking off at 1.30PM), they travel to Scunthorpe 3rd team, Scunthorpe finished 2nd in the league to earn a home draw, with Driffield 3rd. The other semi-final sees Pocklington 3rds host Scarborough 3rds. Kick off for this one is 1.30Pm at Scunthorpe. Again, the 4ths are taking a very strong side to Scunthorpe, eyeing that finals day.
The 3rd Xv have already booked their final spot, after beating Hullensians last weekend, They now face Goole 2nd Team next Saturday, location TBC.
Squads and more info to follow later in the week, look out for updates via the website, Twitter @driffrugby, Facebook @driffieldrufc & Instagram @driffieldrufc.