YORKSHIRE SHIELD FIRST ROUND
SCARBOROUGH RUFC 16 v 9 SELBY RUFC

Selby's search for further success in the Yorkshire Shield, following last season's Final defeat by Bridlington, faltered at the first hurdle as they were beaten by a physically dominating and well organised Scarborough side who were playing their first ever Knock-out match since moving to their superb new facilities 4 years ago.

Selby showed tremendous courage and determination in defence and used this as a springboard for a 9-0 interval lead, but fell away somewhat in the second half in the face of a fearsome onslaught from the home team.

From the very first whistle it was clear that Selby were in for a difficult afternoon as Scarborough applied immediate pressure, forcing Selby to concede a succession of penalties and driving the visitors back to their own 5 metre line. Stubborn defence in midfield eventually brought Selby some much needed relief when Scarborough were penalised for holding on in the tackle after 9 minutes. A mighty clearance by Josh Cruise took play into the Scarborough 22 and a safe line-out take set up a position from which the young Fly Half was able to put Selby on the scoreboard with a smartly taken drop goal.

And so the pattern for the first half was set, Scarborough tearing at the Selby defence, heroic commitment from the visitors at the break down and opportunities to counter attack as Scarborough were repeatedly frustrated by the determination of the whole Selby team.

Cruise was able to extend the Selby lead to 6 points on their next attack when a Scarborough defender was penalised for slowing down possession at the breakdown. The only other score of the first half was a second successful penalty for Cruise after 36 minutes when Scarborough's Chris Purdy was yellow carded for persistent infringements. The physical nature of the confrontation was clearly evident as Selby had been forced to replace number 8 Matthew Wood after just 31 minutes following a hefty collision, allowing one of last season's most improved players, Ben Booth, to enter the fray.

Scarborough had an absolute dream start to the second half and reduced the deficit to 2 points only 1 minute after the kick off when an attempted chip over the defence by Cruise was caught by his opposite number and a clinical break down the right flank resulted in a try for Tom Harrison which was well converted by Tom Ratcliffe just 10 metres in from touch.

As Scarborough increased the intensity of their forward play, Selby found it increasingly difficult to regain possession and there was an air of inevitability about a further score for the home side as their forwards ground their way up to the Selby 22 and, after 62 minutes, Ratcliffe gave his side the lead from a straightforward penalty awarded for offside at a breakdown in front of the sticks.

Despite the introduction of fresh legs from the substitute’s bench and admirable tenacity around the pitch, Selby were never able to gain the upper hand and, as Scarborough continued to dominate, the Selby defence began to wilt. An untidy line-out after 69 minutes resulted in Selby conceding a penalty for holding on in the tackle, giving Ratcliffe the chance to extend Scarborough's lead to 4 points and, when frustration got the better of the Selby players, a further penalty was correctly awarded to the home side for questioning the referee's judgement after 79 minutes and Ratcliffe made no mistake with the kick from the 22, completing the scoring and ensuring a deserved win for the home side.

Success in last season's Yorkshire Shield has brought Selby the chance to compete in one of the RFU's National Competitions with a possible trip to Twickenham if they can battle through to the final so memories of an unforgettable day out at Staines will hopefully be rekindled for the Selby faithful as the season unfolds.