Northallerton 2nds 24 vs. Selby 3rds 32

Central/North District League Division 2 Saturday 20th October
Northallerton 2nds 24 vs. Selby 3rds 32
The Selby 3rds bandwagon thundered into this affable North Yorkshire market town on Saturday afternoon with the sole intent of an easy hit and run raid on foot of the table Northallerton. Nothing could be further from the truth as North took full advantage of their powerful pack and sloping pitch.
The Swans continued to field a changed team, a feature of what has been a Jekyll and Hyde season to date. There were welcome returnees from injury as well as a number of Junior & Senior Colts.
The Swans opened the scoring after 5 minutes when a Marcus Loveday tackle turned defence into attack and, as the ball was swept across the park, Paul Ray was on hand to take advantage of a gap in North’s defence to crash over. Further forays into North’s territory found another gap, with John Taylor crossing before the quarter hour to take Selby 10 up.
It wasn’t all one way traffic though, with Northallerton driving the Swans back up the slope, one such foray netting a full return of points to make it 7-10 at the turn-around.
North immediately put the slope to good use after the break plundering a further converted try to nose in front. Selby came straight back with two quick-fire tries from Tom Rich & Bruce Potter before North again re-took the initiative with a brace of their own to take a 4 point lead into the dying minutes.
Selby’s superior fitness prevailed as in spite of the slope they took the game up to North’s line with first Paul Ray crossing and Leigh Adamson adding the extras followed by a final unconverted John Taylor try right at the final whistle taking the game beyond their opponents reach
Selby played some delightful rugby when given the chance to run the ball. The match was never as bad as the official’s frequent pipings indicated. Good contributions were made through the whole Selby team with Blaymire, Spence & Skelton energetic throughout.