Sandal denied by Driffield's late try after big effort in sweltering conditions

In 30 degree heat and high humidity credit must be given to all the players for producing an exciting and entertaining game, the result of which was open until the final whistle, writes Howard Newton.

Sandal soon found themselves defending when a relieving kick was charged down, putting the side under pressure in their own 22. From a scrum, Driffield posted their first converted try after only four minutes.

Undaunted, Sandal made their way into their opponents half from where the ball was spun out wide to find Cam Bainbridge who made ground before handing on to Declan Thompson who made certain of a try in the corner.

More pressure led to Thompson going over again for another unconverted try.

Driffield hit back and from a line-out they broke through a weak defence to register their second converted try to regain the lead at 14-10 after only 15 minutes.

A third converted try stretched the lead further, but the hosts responded with Ibrahmim Shamchiyev making ground down the left wing before handing on to Jimmy Stewart who coasted in under the posts. With Jake Adams adding the extras Sandal went into the interval 21-17 down.

Immediately from the second half kick-off Driffield went on the attack and after two minutes Sandal infringed in front of the posts to give the visitors an easy three points from a successful penalty kick

A pushover try from a scrum followed to take the visitors 12 points clear.

Sandal were not done, however, and with the help of several penalties they established good field position from which the ball was moved wide for Jake Adams to go over for a bonus point try. He converted and Sandal had reduced the deficit to five points.

The hosts then took the lead when Jake Adams weaved his way over and added the extras to make it 31-29 with 13 minutes left.

Driffield missed a penalty before Sandal went down to 14 with a player sin-binned. They were still leading into stoppage time, but Driffield coasted through a tiring defence to score the winning try.

Sandal came close to a last-gasp try themselves, but a final line-out close to the line was fumbled.

However, the side’s efforts didn’t go unrewarded since two bonus points helped to soften the outcome with a performance that will certainly win games in the future.