Good afternoon and welcome to Sandhill Lane for our fifth home fixture of the season and first ever League Fixture against our visitors from the North East, Guisborough. We should have had the opportunity of welcoming them to Sandhill Lane last season when we were drawn together in the first round of the Yorkshire Shield, but unfortunately injuries and unavailabilities amongst the Front Row meant that Guisborough conceded the fixture a couple of days before kick off

A look at the current League table shows that Guisborough currently sit in the second relegation place just one above Keighley whilst we remain in 9th place following the latest round of matches. However a closer look at the table reveals that, whilstGuisborough are still without a win all season they have managed to collect 9 bonus points, having scored 4 tries on 4 occasions and losing by fewer than 7 points in 5 of their 7 matches so far, a record which I am sure Selby will be only too aware of and which will no doubt ensure that Selby approach the game with the correct mental attitude, knowing that it is a game they can win but expecting a close match and a tough battle if they are to do so.

Having spoken to the Middlesbrough contingent last weekend about the Friday night fixture against Guisborough, it will be interesting to listen to the view from the other side and to hear how it was for the visiting side to prepare for an after work fixture under lights on the second team pitch. Middlesbrough certainly appreciated the switch of date, collecting a much bigger gate than is usual and making a considerable profit from the raffle, so I am sure that Guisborough will be hoping to do the same in the return fixture. The only real possibility we would have of doing similar would be to invite Ponte over for the fixture in March, which, if my sources are right, would be the night before a possible 6 Nations decider between England and Scotland. One for the Rugby Management to consider if they haven’t already!

Last weekend saw us against current League leaders Middlesbrough and it is easy to see why they are where they are as they were able to nullify the threat often posed by our forwards and had the skill and experience behind the scrum to deal with everything we threw at them and to make the most of the opportunities presented to them and capitalise on any errors that we made. Hopefully the Selby players will have taken on board the lessons to be learned and will make things a lot more difficult for Guisborough this afternoon

It is really good to see that we have been able to continue to turn out 4 sides even though all 4 sides suffered defeats last weekend. We need to remember however that the seconds faced a very difficut trip up to Wharfedale and suffered, as usual, from a raft of call offs from people with all manner of excuses and that the thirds and fourths were playing West Park seconds and thirds repsectively. My congratulations and thanks go to Captains, Managers and players involved in all of our lower sides.

It was really interesting to read in Keighley’s programme two weeks ago that the RFU are again looking at the composition of Leagues in the Northern Division and having the chance to discuss the implications for teams like Middlesbrough, who chose to remain in Yorkshire 1 rather than transfer to Northumberland and Durham 1 in spite of the fact that Selby is the nearest fixture they have apart from the local derby against Guisborough. I will therefore be keen to hear the views of our visitors today as they face a similar, difficult schedule travelling the length and breadth of the county every other week.

In conclusion, I would like to offer a gentle reminder to everybody taking part in or spectating this afternoon's game to please show respect to the match officials, players from both sides and other spectators. There is nothing better than a hard fought game of Rugby played out in front of a knowledgeable and friendly crowd and we all have to play our part in ensuring that everybody here this afternoon can go home afterwards having enjoyed some great entertainment, whether a player, flag man, referee, water boy, allickadoo or a member of the paying public. We have a duty to all visitors to Sandhill to ensure that their afternoon is not ruined by the actions of one or two individuals and that everybody adheres to the RFU Code of Conduct, so I would ask that everybody makes sure that they behave in a manner befitting our great game.