Selby cruised through to the 3rd Round of the Intermediate Cup (North) on Saturday with a comprehensive 46 points to 14 victory over fellow Yorkshire 1 League side Yarnbury. Some exhilarating back play, supported admirably by the forwards, saw Selby in front by 41 points to nil by the 60th minute and there was no way back for Yarnbury even though they had the consolation of scoring 2 late converted tries. One of the highlights of the day for Selby was the four-try performance of their centre Shaun Austerfield who has now scored 11 tries in his last five appearances.

The late arrival of prop Paul Gabel saw Ian Copperwheat promoted to the starting XV, otherwise there were no changes to the Selby side.

The first half was largely dominated by Selby with Yarnbury making rare inroads into the Selby 22 – when they did, stand off Simon Hall and full back Chris McDonald were always on hand to clear the danger with some excellent kicking to touch. Selby took the lead in the 5th minute from their first successful scrum with Simon Hall making an excellent dummy before releasing to his backs where winger Rich Topping released inside for Shaun Austerfield to score an easy try – Dan Porter converted to give Selby a 7 points to nil advantage. Yarnbury came straight back to pressurise the Selby line and a clearance kick from the in goal area by Selby went straight to the waiting Yarnbury winger who was tackled short of the line. Selby regained possession with Simon Hall clearing the danger with the kick to touch. It was all Selby then with centre Andy Gabel and winger Dan Porter both going close to scoring tries before Shaun Austerfield increased the lead with his second try in the 16th minute, after Selby stole the ball at the tackle and Andy Gabel had made devastating inroads into the Yarnbury defence – Dan Porter kicked the conversion. Four minutes later Selby went further ahead after hooker Shane Sellers again stole the ball at the tackle before feeding to winger Dan Porter who ran from the Selby 30 metre line to score the try – despite the conversion going wide Selby now had a substantial 19 points to nil lead. Only three minutes later Selby moved further ahead with the try of the match, after the second row duo of Jason Cicero and Mark Rollinson had made massive inroads into the Yarnbury defence to release Andy Gabel who made a brilliant run to score his fourth try of the season – with Dan Porter kicking an excellent conversion Selby were now 26 points to nil in front. Selby then came under pressure for only the second time in the match but their defence held firm with Shaun Austerfield making a try saving tackle before they stunned Yarnbury with their fifth try of the game in the 36th minute. The architect was flanker Richard Nicholson who stole the ball in the loose before releasing the Selby backs where Shaun Austerfield unselfishly put winger Rich Topping in at the

corner for his first try of the season – Dan Porter missed the conversion but Selby had a luxurious 31 points to nil half time advantage.

With Paul Gabel replacing Ian Copperwheat at prop and Martin Protheroe taking over on the wing from Dan Porter who had taken a knock at the end of the first half, Selby came under sustained pressure for the first time in the match at the start of the second half with Yarnbury dominating the line out and it was fully 12 minutes into the half before Selby encroached into the Yarnbury half. Two minutes later they went further ahead when Selby took their first scrum against the head for stand off Simon Hall to barge his way over for the try – Chris McDonald hit the post with the conversion attempt. Selby now re-organised with Kevin Lowery replacing Jason Cicero – Lowery took over at number 8 with Mathew Mills moving to the second row. Yarnbury were then unlucky not to score when their stand off Chris Lilley was adjudged to have been held up over the line. Selby took the resultant 5 metre scrum against the head where the ball was released to the backs with winger Rich Topping making good progress to the half way line releasing the ball to Shaun Austerfield who raced the other half of the pitch to touch down in the corner for his third try of the match in the 60th minute – McDonald missed the conversion. Two minutes later Yarnbury put their first points on the scoreboard when the excellent Steven Galbraith intercepted a loose pass on the Selby 10 metre line to touch down under the posts – Galbraith kicked the conversion to pull Yarnbury back to 7 – 41 in arrears. Selby were not quite finished yet and after a successful scrum on the Yarnbury 22 metre line the ball was spread wide for the irrepressible Shaun Austerfield to score his fourth try of the match – Chris McDonald’s conversion attempt once again hit the post. There was some consolation for Yarnbury, however, in the 73rd minute, when a dropped ball in the Selby 10 metre area was gathered by Steven Galbraith who once again scored under the posts and added the extras. The referee blew for time 5 minutes early with Selby the deserved victors by 46 points to 14 and a place in the third round draw of the Intermediate Cup (North).

This was an excellent all round performance by Selby with Yarnbury possibly only superior in the line out. An added bonus for Selby was the performance of the new half back combination of David Bramley and Simon Hall who both gave assured displays with Rich Topping giving an accomplished performance on the wing.

Next week Selby return to League action with the much-awaited clash with local rivals Goole at Sandhill Lane before travelling the week after to take on newly promoted Ilkley.

SELBY LINE-UP:
15 Full Back McDonald C
14 Wing Porter D
13 Centre Austerfield S
12 Centre Gabel A
11 Wing Topping R
10 Stand Off Hall S
9 Scrum Half Bramley D
1 Prop Pocklington A (Capt)
2 Hooker Sellers S
3 Prop Copperwheat I
4 Lock Cicero J
5 Lock Rollinson M
6 Flanker Phillips D
7 Flanker Nicholson R
8 No 8 Mills M

Substitutes
Protheroe M (For Porter D – 40 Minutes
Gabel P (For Copperwheat I – 40 Minutes)
Lowery K (For Cicero J – 54 Minutes)
Pocklington J (For Rollinson – 72 Minutes)