Fell a little short.

After promotion into the Moor & Dale Division 2 ,Driffield 3rd team travelled to Thirsk to play Northallerton 2.
Fielding 3 new players in the squad the team settled quickly into a strong attacking force.
Kate Leeson in centre mid-field worked tirelessly with Hannah Southwell and youngster Hannah Percival to break down the oppositions formation.
Strong, clean passes up the wings opened up the game, allowing Bella Thompson and Julie Pease to break through the Northallerton defence. A number of shots on the goal just missed their target until finally a defenders foot got in the way. A penalty corner was awarded and 18 minutes into the game, Pease converted with a clean strike on goal.
Unfortunately the Northallerton team bounced straight back and equalised with a thunderous shot that went sailing into the top right of our goal. Short of growing a foot in height our GK Debs Nelson had no chance !
Driffield reformed quickly with Bea Neal-Smith finding the space with her strong 16m hit-outs. Maya Brown collected one of these balls and ran the line, beating the Northallerton defence to take a shot on goal which just went wide. Northallerton misjudged their hit-out and Pease was able to snatch the ball and drive it past the keeper to score for Driffield a second time.
2 minutes before the half-time whistle and Northallerton pulled ahead again with a disputed shot from just outside the D, but the umpire awarded the goal.
The second half was hard fought. Maya Brown with her characteristic tenacity equalised for Driffield after a scrappy fight in front of the goal. Driffield ladies controlled the game with Morgan and Falkingham cutting off any threats into our quarter.
2 minutes before the final whistle and Northallerton had one last push up the left wing and managed to drive through our defence to score their fourth goal of the match.

A disappointing start to the season but Driffield Ladies played a solid game and need to build on this for the next match against Batley.