Selby were looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat against Moortown last week as they entertained Morley at Sandhill Lane. With the sun shining and hardly a breath of wind, the large home crowd were understandably looking forward to an afternoon of running rugby and both sides showed a willingness to provide just that.

Selby kicked off and Morley set about trying to run the ball out of their 22, however a knock on gave Selby the chance to attack and from the ensuing scrum quick hands saw them make good yards as they passed the Morley 22, only for the visitors to be penalised for killing the ball. Henry Wright made no mistake with the penalty to open up a 3 point lead inside the first 2 mins.

Morley kicked off and soon retrieved the ball in the Selby half. Again they showed good skills running at the home defence until Selby were eventually able to force them into touch on the 22 metre line. Both sides then decided to test the opposition defence with a series of kicks which eventually resulted in Morley clearing their lines with a kick to touch on the half way line.

Selby won quick ball from the line-out and a powerful thrust up the middle by Liam Hogan made good yards to put the home side on the front foot. Quick ball to the left saw speedster Ramsay in a bit of space, a good cover tackle slowed him down, but Selby were on the charge and a couple of quick passes saw James Bramley nearly break the gap. Another quick ruck and swift hands created the space for Prop Forward Joey Reid to race in form 10 yards just in from the right hand touchline. Although the conversion was missed Selby had a useful 8 point lead with just under quarter of an hour played.

Following the Morley kick off both teams had chances to show their mettle in attack and defence around each others 22. The young Morley side were managing to keep the ball well in attack but were just not able to find the extra spark needed to break Selby’s cast iron defence. Selby on the other hand were making breaks into Morley’s half only for handling errors giving the visitors the opportunity to clear their lines.

On the 30 minute mark a quick line out take from Selby saw the ball shoot down the back line and as they executed a training ground move to perfection, Bob Robinson and Charlie Bramley flooded the left hand side of the pitch and their quick hands put Ramsay into enough space for him to step on the gas and scorch over just to the left of the posts. The conversion by Wright moved the home advantage to 15 points as half time approached

A familiar pattern was evident at the restart as Morley again regained possession and went through the phases, keeping possession and displaying good inter play between forwards and backs. Selby’s defence was however up for the challenge as they kept putting in the hits to force Morley into mistakes. With 36 minutes gone that’s exactly what they managed to do as Morley, attempting to play out of their own half got isolated and Skipper Alex Webster, acting like an extra back row forward, forced a penalty in front of the Morley posts which Wright duly converted to stretch the lead to 18 points to nil at the end of the first period.

Despite being 18 points down Morley still had the belief that they were in the contest and from the kick off again began to put phases of play together, gradually inching closer to the Selby line. As was the case in the first half as the phases stacked up the fitness levels needed to repeatedly secure the ball began to drop off and on several occasions Selby were patient enough to wait until they had the chance to be able to steal the ball or secure a penalty for holding on.

This theme continued with Selby repeatedly clearing their lines and putting in a great defensive shift, whilst Morley kept possession, went through the phases with both forwards and backs combining well to maintain the pressure on the home defence. It felt like something had to give and eventually it did. Morley, having had the bulk of possession in the second half managed to force their way into the Selby 22 and after a great passage of play where the ball went through 15 phases they were awarded a penalty as Selby’s discipline in defence finally deserted them. A quick tap and a dart from the visiting Scrum Half saw him dive through several pairs of legs to cross under the posts. The successful conversion which reduced the deficit to 18 points to 7, was just reward for Morley’s considerable efforts but had taken almost 20 minutes of hard graft.

Selby’s reaction to the setback was immediate and devastating. A good kick-off into the left hand corner and a good chase forced Morley to seal off the ball and concede another penalty. The kick to the corner, a good line-out take and drive from the Selby pack took them to within 1 metre of the visitors’ line. The efficiently recycled ball saw Ash Parkinson crash over for the try. Wright converted the straightforward kick and within just a couple of minutes of conceding, Selby had re-established their 18 point lead.

Although Morley never gave up and continued to play open attractive rugby. Selby’s defence was comfortably holding out as was their discipline and as the clock ticked down they managed to force another handling error from the visitors. From the resulting scrum they broke down the blind side with scrum half Archie Bennett combining with Ramsay. Morley were caught on the back foot and were subsequently penalised for illegally entering the ruck from the side. A quick kick to the corner set up a line out 5 metres from the try line in the bottom left hand corner. A good take again from Quinton McGrory-Hill, who had put in another excellent performance, set up a forward drive and a peel off to the left saw replacement Adam Crooks dive over for the try to seal another bonus point. Wright’s excellent conversion concluded the scoring, seeing the home side register another convincing victory over a more than useful Morley outfit.

This was an excellent performance by the young Swans as they bounced back from last week’s disappointment. The scoreline did not reflect the quality of the young Morley side who love to run with ball in hand from anywhere on the pitch. With a bit more accuracy in attack from the visitors the result could have been a lot closer, but Selby were clinical in attack and disciplined in defence with great performances from Liam Hogan, Ashley Parkinson and turnover king Alex Webster.