Hullensians RUFC 12 - 26 Selby RUFC

Hullensians RUFC 12 – 26 Selby RUFC
1st Round Yorkshire Silver Trophy

Report by Ian Marlow (Posted by Stephen Ward)

Selby had a week off from league rugby to take on Hullensians in the Yorkshire Silver Trophy on a soggy Friday night in Hull – and a fair few Selbyites obviously had nothing better to do with their evening as a largish following were rewarded with an excellent performance from a pretty inexperienced Swans team.

A steepling up and under from skipper Josh Cruise in the opening minute, exactly what was required in the gloomy conditions, left the Hullensians full back without a prayer and a resultant penalty was slotted over by Cruise for 0-3. A good break up the right from Hullensians gave suspicions of defensive frailties but with the Selby pack winning plenty of good ball Cruise was having it very easy and dominating play with his boot, kicking Hullensians back to their own line at every chance. A Cruise penalty right into the corner gave the pack the chance to easily drive over for Scott Birch to touch down and then more good forward play opened up the space for Scott Hunt to score out wide for 0-15 after 20 minutes.

With the game seemingly won already, Hullensians suddenly roused themselves from their lethargy with a good spell of snappy back play and when their nippy winger turned up in the centres to scoot through for an excellent individual try, the game was suddenly back on at 7-15. Hullensians continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half and came within inches of crossing again, but Selby held out and right on half time Cruise relieved the pressure with an excellent long-range penalty for 7-18.

Hullensians replied immediately after the break, confirming earlier suspicions about the suspect Swans defence, with a midfield-splitting break to score another try for 12-18 - but Cruise again stretched the lead with another penalty for 12-21. The other Cruise then got involved as Harry Cruise finished off out wide after more good work from the forwards for 12-26 with fifteen minutes to go. And that was how the score finished as Selby then put in a very competent and reassuring performance to close the match out as the forwards won the ball for Josh Cruise, ably assisted by fellow bootmeister Hunt, to pin Hullensians back into their own half to comfortably see the game out.

So, overall, an excellent performance from Selby, particularly given the inexperience and late changes to the team, epitomised no better than by debutant Luke Mander in the front row, who simply gave it his all in fully contributing to the team effort - and you can ask for no more than that. Another noticeable, and welcome, facet of Selby’s play was the much more (than usual!) structured pattern to their play, with much more emphasis given to kicking their way into good positions from where they could maximise their chances to score – long may it continue!

Next Saturday it is back to league action with a tough encounter away at Old Brodleians – and don’t forget kick offs are now 2:15pm until the end of February 2020.