Howden AFC v Driffield EI

Downpour in Driffield
 
Driffield grabbed a last gasp leveller this past Saturday as Howden AFC were unlucky to not hand the home side their first league defeat of the season. Josh Oldridge netted his first ever goal for the MinsterMen to give the travelling squad a hard earned point.
  With only one change to the starting line up which hammered Beverley the week previous, Chris Gilmartin returned to the fray alongside skipper Damien McMahon. Josh Oldridge moved up the field into central midfield. 
  Both sides started with mutual respect, as a feeling out process took the best part of fifteen minutes. Not wanting to gift the other side anything, a cautious approach was pursued. The rain hammered down, with the pitch struggling to cope. In the final third, both sides  were poor. 
   Howden looked to Westerman and Schofield to find some space, but the ball was bogged down in central midfield. Steady defending, Howden coped with Driffield's route one ball and deep crosses comfortably.
 The first real chance of  the afternoon fell to Westerman who linked up well with Oldridge. The effort clipped the inside of the post after a neat one-two. Rolling across the goal line and out for a goal kick in a bizarre fashion. Andrew had a curling effort clawed away as the shot looked destined for the top corner.
 Jackson was drawn into action from a free kick, tipping over the bar well. However other than that, neither side looked threatening going forward.
   In the second half, Howden could see the host's were tiring and the MinsterMen began to click into gear. Bell, Westerman and Gorman began to find pockets of space opening up in the final third but couldn't conjure up clear cut chances. A few corners were swung in and the odd pop shot from outside the box trickled wide. 
 A buzz about the play, it began to be attack after attack. Westerman again in the thick of the action. Howden believed they had won a penalty as the striker was brought down in the box, however the referee ruled a free kick on the edge strangely, waving away protests.
  As the game went on, the pitch got worse and Holt introduced fresh legs. Webster, Peterson and Butterill all giving the visitors a timely boost. 
 Howden's goal came deserved and on cue. Gorman tackled the full back well crossing to Westerman. Unselfishly, he squared back across as Josh Oldridge slammed home the ball into the roof of the net. 
 Two more chances fell to Howden and Westerman in particular. The striker opted to square to Gorman, with the ball behind Gorman, when an effort on goal could have sealed the victory. Two minutes later the forward thought he'd made amends as he raced through and fired into the bottom corner. Only to see the referee ruled the goal a dubious offside. 
   Deep inside stoppage time now and Driffield had started to peg Howden in. Jackson saved brilliantly from a long range strike round his post. A resulting corner brought a late leveller though, as Driffield threw bodies at the ball & Jackson.  
 Howden still had an opportunity to grab a winner as Westerman was at it again, firing a low cross into the box. Peterson could only blaze over from 3 yards out. 
  "On a sodden pitch, we showed we can match it with the top sides". said Holt post-match. "A lot of big decisions didn't go our way today and that's all I say on that matter. It's not easy to come here and get a result. We would have liked all three and probably deserved them, but one is better than none". 
Sam Westerman was awarded Man of the Match for the MinsterMen. No action for the first team on Saturday as they have a week off.