Huddersfield RUFC
Huddersfield RUFC book place in county cup's next round
Field travelled to Driffield and tries from Giles Hetherington and Elliot Knight were enough to secure a win, writes Alex Perry
Mel Booth
Huddersfield winger Elliot Knight scored the away side's second try to help them progress to the next round of the Yorkshire Cup
Huddersfield RUFC narrowly beat Driffield 13-12 to continue to the second round of the Yorkshire Cup.
Field travelled to Driffield and tries from Giles Hetherington and Elliot Knight were enough to secure a win.
Head coach Gareth Lewis said: "We did what we needed to do – just!
"It was one of those games for the purist.
"In an ideal world it would be nice to get a double this season.
"A few of the games have been quite tight recently so we need to start picking up our performances.
"If it's Otley in the next round that'll be a good test to see where we are against the teams in the league above."
It was expected to be a David against Goliath type match with Huddersfield several leagues above Driffield, but the home side stepped up with impressive attack and solid defence.
The first points on the board came from Field fly-half Hetherington, as he slotted over a penalty from in front of the posts.
Through the ongoing pressure in the Driffield 22, Huddersfield got their first try from Hetherington. A simple overlap on the blind side saw the fly-half walk in over the line.
However, the conversion was unsuccessful.
The first-half went on with the home side gaining momentum, with the crowd seemingly being their 16th man.
With the wind in their sails they got a try of their own, as the Driffield winger was left with a one-on-one with Huddersfield's full back George Hunt – the winger sold Hunt the dummy to go over in the corner.
With the conversion unsuccessful Field went into the break leading 8-5.
Huddersfield came out of the gates in the second half with potent attacking phases from the off.
Hetherington attempted a penalty again, however the windy conditions held the ball up, and it fell short.
Soon after through strong forward work, Field gained good procession deep into Driffield territory.
Huddersfield then simply put the ball through quick hands to get it out to winger Knight, who went in for the try. The conversion was again unsuccessful, thanks mainly to the conditions.
Huddersfield were ahead but not in total control with Driffield pressing for points of their own. And those points soon came as they worked an overlap, to put their winger in.
However it was little too late for the underdogs as the clock was all but up.