Selby RUFC 2nd XV 20 - 10 Roundhegians RUFC 2nd XV

PRE-CHRISTMAS FRIENDLY
SELBY RUFC 2ND XV 20 – 10 ROUNDHEGIANS RUFC 2ND XV.

In an entertaining pre-Christmas friendly fixture, Selby eventually overcame a determined Roundhegians side, winning by 20 points to 10. At half time Selby trailed by 10 points to 8 and with Roundhegians playing with the elements after the break they threatened to overwhelm the Selby defence at the start of the half but the Selby defence, ably assisted by unforced Roundhegians errors, refused to crack. Then midway through the half, and despite a rash of yellow cards to both sides, Selby produced a purple patch, securing the victory with 2 tries, one of which was converted and a penalty.

Most of the early exchanges took place in the middle of the pitch but it was Roundhegians who then started to exert pressure but it was Selby who took the lead after their scrum, under severe pressure from a much larger Roundhegians pack on their own 22, managed to get the ball out on the blind side – the ball reached winger Ben Lunt who set off on a mazy run down the wing – he managed to reach the Roundhegians 5 metre line before being brought down but managed to offload to promising second row forward Andy Blunt who went over for the try in the 6th minute – Iain Adamson missed the conversion. Selby threatened to score again 3 minutes later after another excellent break by Lunt and a speculative cross-kick by skipper Kevin Lamb but the ball bounced awkwardly and into touch before it could be gathered by winger Nick Firth. Roundhegians then began to exert themselves and took the lead when their always dangerous number 8 Leon Blakey brushed aside the Selby defence to score near the posts – full back Alex Jones kicked the conversion to give Roundhegians a 7 points to 5 advantage after 15 minutes. With both sides ‘wrestling’ for supremacy, it was Selby who re-took the lead after Roundhegians were caught offside in front of their posts in the 34th minutes, Iain Adamson obliging with the penalty to put Selby in front by 8 points to 7. Alex Oliver replaced Simon Lewis at this point but it was Roundhegians who went into the break with the lead after Selby were penalised for offside – full back Alex Jones converted the penalty after 37 minutes for a 10 points to 8 advantage to Roundhegians.

Ed Clark replaced Stephen Clark at the start of the second half with Roundhegians, now playing with the advantage of the wind, exerting tremendous pressure on the Selby defence – the pressure it took its toll within 2 minutes with the Selby number 8 Ben Spence yellow carded for a technical offence. Fresh legs in the shape of Duncan Phillips and Paul Gabel at the expense of Andy Blunt and Joe Romaniw were called for after 46 minutes but things got worse for Selby with another yellow card, this time for second row forward Mark Toye, and Selby down to 13 after 47 minutes. More pressure 2 minutes later saw Roundhegians looking certain to score a try wide out but with a massive overlap the final pass was knocked on by their winger with the try-line at his mercy. Matters were evened up a little after 53 minutes when the dangerous Roundhegians number 8, Leon Blakey, was also yellow carded. This seemed to be the catalyst for Selby to produce their best rugby of the afternoon and they regained the lead after 54 minutes after an Iain Adamson kick through the Roundhegians defence – the chasing Adamson was blatantly obstructed chasing the kick but winger Lunt won the race for the ball, gathered and touched down for a splendid try after 54 minutes – Iain Adamson converted for a 15 points to 10 lead to Selby. With Spence now back on after his yellow card, Selby continued to play some attractive determined rugby with both Spence and Adamson inflicting some really big ‘hits’ on the Roundhegians defence. Selby introduced more fresh legs after 59 minutes with Lee Adamson on for Ed Townend and Andy Blunt returning to the field in place of Mark Toye who had served his 10 minute ‘sin-binning’. A penalty miss from Iain Adamson after 63 minutes heralded the return of Leon Blakey for Roundhegians after his yellow card but Roundhegians were back to 14 two minutes later with their prop yellow carded and a 10 minute spell of uncontested scrums. The penalty incurred by Roundhegians for the yellow card was kicked to the Roundhegians 10 metre line – the line out was won with prop forward Ben Booth driven over the line for a well-worked try – no conversion but Selby now had a 20 points to 10 advantage. To their credit Roundhegians now started to come back into the game but missed a fairly straightforward penalty after 68 minutes. With another yellow card for Selby, this time to centre and skipper, Kevin Lamb, after 74 minutes and with the return of the yellow-carded Roundhegians prop a minute later, Roundhegians once more began to dominate, but the Selby defence held firm to record a deserved 20 points to 10 victory after an entertaining friendly fixture, hugely enjoyed by a substantial crowd.