Northampton Old Scouts 29 Selby 27

Selby’s first fifteen and many supporters made a long journey south to play Northampton Old Scouts in the semi-final of the Papa Johns national cup knockout, with a final at Twickenham awaiting the winner. A bright and sunny afternoon made for ideal conditions and a great atmosphere as the teams kicked off.

Both sides were hitting hard in defence as the game started until Selby were awarded a penalty for offside after just three minutes which stand-off Henry Wright stroked over from the ten meter line to give his side first advantage at 3-0.

From the restart it took Selby just another five minutes of pressure for the young Swans to create a try for winger Matthew Lodge wide out on the left flank giving Selby an 8-0 lead as Wright was unable to make the difficult conversion.

The game then entered a period of a stalemate played between the 22 metre lines with a number of Old Scout knock-ons giving Selby the put in at the scrum. Despite being somewhat lighter than the Scout’s pack, Selby’s eight were on top in these scrums but the team were unable to convert possession and territorial advantage into points. On twenty minutes a penalty against Selby for holding on at the tackle allowed the Northampton stand off to reduce the arrears to 8-3

Selby hit back immediately as they regained possession from the kick off and as the ball came out a side step and a dummy pass saw Henry Wright create space for himself to go in under the posts making the conversion a formality as Selby took a grip on the game at 15 points to 3

Northampton’s forwards then showed up well as they scored a converted try from an overthrown line out to close the gap only to concede two soft penalties in the last five minutes of the first half which enabled Selby to take a half time lead of 21-10 leaving everything to play for.

The second half opened well for Selby as a penalty at the break down was then disputed by the Old Scouts hooker which saw him yellow carded and Wright kick the resulting penalty, soon followed by another during his absence as Selby dominated the scrum with Adam Leetham having replaced Joey Reid. The lead for the visitors had now stretched to 27-10.

A second yellow card for Northampton made the game appear comfortable, but Selby were unable to take advantage as both sides tired. Then came a pivotal moment as, with Old Scouts hammering the Selby line a deliberate knock on saw Matty Lodge (who wasn’t the culprit) sent to the sin bin. A penalty try was subsequently awarded on the instigation of the touch judge reducing the deficit to 27-17 in Selby’s favour.

The ten minute period with a man advantage saw Northampton regain the initiative but unable to add any points, however shortly after Lodge returned to the field Old Scouts scored another converted try to make it Selby 27 Scouts 24 with seven minutes left.

Selby were now under tremendous pressure as Northampton, driven on by their enthusiastic and vocal support, hammered away at the Selby line repeatedly kept out with Selby’s customary committed defence. It was a massive disappointment to the large travelling support that the fourth minute of injury time and with the last play of the game, Northampton went over in the far right corner for the try which gave them the lead for the first time in the match and clinched their trip to Twickenham at 29 points to 27.

Supporters from both sides were treated to a fine game of rugby, excellently hosted by the Northampton Old Scouts and all at Selby would wish them Good Luck for their trip next Saturday to Twickenham.

In the considerable post-match conversations there was plenty of time to reflect on what has probably been Selby’s best season since they themselves won at Twickenham eleven years ago. Promotion to Regional League 1 North means there will be new rivalries and old friends to meet next year.

Many thanks are due to all players, supporters, sponsors and everyone involved at the Club. We now have all Summer to reflect on the events and success of the last nine months and begin to look forward to next season, a season which will really test just how far the young Selby side has progressed under the excellent coaching of Jacob Robinson and his team.