Buoyed by their opening day win and powered by the sort of optimism only a fresh season can provide, Driffield were keen to get the home campaign underway in front of what historians may one day describe as “a crowd.”

With a full squad available and captain Martindale delivering some strong motivational words exact content unknown but assumed to be inspirational. Driffield started quickly. The ball was moved around with purpose, patience and occasionally even accuracy, as the home side enjoyed long spells of possession. At the back, the defensive line kept things ticking over nicely, with the Needhams, Hirst, Knapton, Smith and Martindale all calmly shifting the ball around as if they had definitely practised it.

Naturally, this frustrated the opposition, who soon found themselves doing a lot of chasing and very little enjoying. It felt only a matter of time before chances opened up for the attacking line of Lucas, Braidwood-Smith and Foster. Then, when the ball eventually found resident plumber Voase, he briefly downed tools, danced his way into the D and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.

Unfortunately, this appeared to wake Slazenger’s up. Their response was to drop most of their players behind the ball, creating the sort of traffic congestion usually reserved for Bank Holiday weekends. Chances became harder to find, but after a few substitutions Driffield’s fresh legs began to take control again. A home debut for Jonty added reinforcement at the back, while Kelly, Waite and Willem helped create further opportunities most of which were very generously not converted, presumably to keep the game interesting.

After a long spell of Driffield possession, Slazenger’s broke away on the counter and won a short corner. Following a neat routine, they dispatched the ball into the goal to level it at 1-1 before the break, which was frankly a little rude given how much of the ball Driffield had enjoyed.

After the half-time talk, Driffield came back out with a point to prove and, more importantly, a match to win. More possession followed, more chances arrived, and eventually another short corner was won. Up stepped Fin Needham, who sent a venomous strike into the corner. The opposition keeper had about as much chance of saving it as the rest of us have of understanding short-corner routines, and Driffield were back in front at 2-1.

What followed was a scrappy, hard-fought end to the game, Some great saves from Chard between the posts and Waite and Levitt among those putting their bodies on the line to stop the opposition counter-attacks. Driffield did well not to get dragged into the chaos Slazenger’s were clearly hoping for, managing the final stages with something resembling control and seeing out the final whistle.

Another three points secured, top of the league reached, and most importantly, no one completely embarrassed themselves. A successful weekend all round.