Barnsley RUFC 0 v 14 Selby RUFC

Yorkshire Shield Round 2

Report by Ray Adamson

In atrocious conditions and on a pitch completely open to the elements, Selby put in a strong performance to come away from Barnsley with a well deserved win, a first clean sheet of the season and the reward of a home tie against fierce rivals Pontefract in the next round.

Despite playing into the worst of the elements in the first half, Selby were on top from the first whistle and kept the home team under pressure for long spells. However a combination of stern defence and mistakes which were often attributed to the dire conditions meant that scoring opportunities were at a premium. The home full back Will Smith made the most of the conditions, repeatedly driving Selby back to their own 22 courtesy of his massive clearance kicks, but Selby showed themselves more than willing to run the ball back with Ben Lunt to the fore having switched to full back following Tom Ambler's forced departure following an unfortunate ankle injury. Ben Booth was also withdrawn after just 10 minutes with a back injury and younger brother Josh proved himself to be a more than adequate replacement, putting in a tremendous performance on his first team debut. The only clear scoring opportunity of the first half fell to Barnsley after 25 minutes when awarded a penalty but fly half Appleyard was unable to gauge the strength of the wind and his kick sailed harmlessly wide of the posts.

With the wind at their backs and a blank scoreboard after the break Selby were probably looking forward to turning the dominance of their forwards into points but too often misdirected kicks ran dead and resulted in scrums well out of the danger area. Ten minutes into the half Selby had their first clear chance but fly half Scott Hunt also found it difficult to find his range, dragging the kick wide of the sticks. It was midway through the half when Selby finally gained reward for their exceptional effort when the forwards repeatedly drove at the Barnsley line and their ever alert and rapidly improving young scrum half Andy McLoughlin picked up and burrowed his way over the line. Hunt judged his kick correctly at the second attempt and opened up a 7 point lead for the visitors. Just 10 minutes later Selby doubled their advantage through a similar play as the forwards again battered the Barnsley defence and prop forward Greg Nagle kept up his impressive scoring record since joining the Club by crashing over for his third try in as many games. A tremendous touch line conversion by Hunt gave his side a lead that they rarely looked like giving up despite the home side's considerable efforts. Even when the game drew to its conclusion and Barnsley strove for a consolation score Selby refused to buckle, eventually turning the ball over and clearing the ball downfield to relieve the pressure and consolidate their advantage.

The final whistle was undoubtedly welcomed by players, officials and spectators alike but it is great credit to both sides that they were able to produce any kind of a spectacle given the appalling weather and pitch conditions. The Selby faithful who made the trip to South Yorkshire were warmed by both the result and performance of their team and will no doubt already be looking forward to the derby match against Pontefract in the quarter final tie, due to be played at Sandhill Lane in early February.