Competitive First Match for the u15s

Yarnbury accepted the challenge of a visit to Sandhill Lane and were warmly welcomed as the first opponents for the u15 Selby boys in the 2023/24 season.

Selby had an almost full strength squad of 24 players and Yarnbury brought 18 which resulted in a very competitive game throughout, tough tackling from both sides meant every metre gained was hard earned.

No sooner had the match kicked off Selby were forced into an immediate change as Charlie A injured his shoulder in the first phase of play.

The disruption did not stop the Selby boys from scoring their first try of the season on 4 minutes when Josh F powered over from close range and Sam A added the extras (7-0)

Not to be outdone on 9 minutes Ryan used his power to take a tap penalty and drive over for his first try of the season with Sam A again slotting over the conversion (14-0)

Yarnbury then got a foothold in the game and forced Selby into a sustained period of defensive work with strong tacking notably from Kieron, Jack, Alex S, Dan G and Joseph making the opposition use up a lot of energy to sustain field position in the Selby 22. The defence held out and after wresting possession back and a short period of phased possession Sam A burst over the visitors’ line on 29 minutes and composed himself to convert his own try (21-0)

As the clock ticked towards the end of the first half there was just enough time for Alex H to break the defensive line once more and touch down and with Sam A keeping up his 100% conversion record the half time score board read 28-0.

The scoreline slightly flattered Selby as the visitors had put up a spirited performance in both attack and defence and after taking possession from the second half kick off Yarnbury worked their way down the field and finally breached the Selby defences on 35 minutes for their first try but were unable to convert (28-5)

Another strong run and line break by Alex H on 39 minutes caught the visitors defence advancing and he was able to run in uncontested for his second try and Sam A was on target with his fifth conversion for Selby to lead 35-5.

The match then became an old fashion arm wrestle with both sides giving everything in a strong fair contest, but on 44 minutes the referee adjudged Alex H to be too aggressive and gave him Selby’s first yellow card of the season.

Little changed whilst Selby played with a man short with play being concentrated to the middle of the pitch and strong defences held out on both sides

Alex H returned to make Selby back up to a full and on 55 minutes he immediately made up for his earlier sanction by handing off 3 Yarnbury defenders and touching down for his 3rd try and Sam A made it 6/6 for kicking (42-5).

Another harsh yellow card followed for Harry on 57 minutes and Yarnbury finished off the scoring with the last phase of play to score their second try and with the conversion missed the final whistle blew with a score of 42-10.

This was an encouraging start to our u15 campaign with all the boys getting game time and thanks for all your support today.