u15 Yorkshire Cup Week

It was cup week this week and the lads were drawn at home to Harrogate (cup holders), in the 4th round of matches of the Yorkshire Cup.

A squad of 20 gave everything in what proved to be a very competitive and entertaining encounter. Rain had washed out training sessions in the previous week and continued to fall throughout the day but the pitch was up to it and so were the players.

What unfolded was a breathless 60 minutes of cup rugby, and every player from both sides gave it their all to entertain a busy touchline of host and visiting parents. The wet conditions meant it was not a game for expansive rugby and keeping the ball close, hard work building pressure, and working for every yard of territory was required.

An early indiscretion by Harrogate allowed Charlie A to kick a penalty on 5 minutes to give Selby a 3-0 lead. There was no further scoring chances in the first half as the ball stayed in the middle of the pitch for the remainder of the half. The forwards from both sides rucked back and forth, Sam A noticeable by his blue scrum cap involved on almost every ruck either in attack or defence, as it became difficult to work out who was who as the mud stuck to the shirts as tackle after tackle went in. The backs too completed their fair share of work, supporting the forwards and defusing any attempts to break out wide.

Harrogate started the 2nd half slightly the faster and on 31 minutes finally created some space out wide and scored the first try of the game to lead 3-5. There was little between the sides again after that with neither pack able to gain meaningful territory and it took until 46th minute for the next attempt at a score, another Harrogate offside gave Selby the opportunity to take the lead but the penalty kick crashed into the upright and back safely into play for the Harrogate team.

It was the visitors that then took control of the scoring with tries on 50 and 55 minutes, with the second converted the cup holders had a 3-17 lead with minutes to go. Selby were down but certainly not out, and immediately responded by chasing the kick off, causing panic in the Harrogate defence, stripping the ball and captain Lawrence drove over on 57 minutes, and with Charlie A adding the conversion the game was back on 10-17.

The last 3 minutes were frenetic with Selby stretching every sinew to find a gap in the Harrogate defence one final time. Alas it was not to be and on the last play, a Selby drop out, the bounce of the rugby ball wrong-footed the chasing Selby boys and the Harrogate centre was able to step and find enough energy to touch down for the final try in the corner and complete the scoring at 10-22.

Selby coaches and management could not be prouder of the effort from each and every one of the playing squad, they were a credit to the club for their commitment to the team, never taking a backward step and making the cup holders work harder than any other team for their victory.

Thanks also to Ryan, Rhys and Zack for coming along to support their teammates in what was great conditions for the epic rugby battle, but not so much for spectating!