Emphatic Win for Selby 1st XV

Having recently secured 2 excellent bonus point victories, Selby went into the fixture against Bradford and Bingley knowing that another positive result could well secure their Regional 2 status, with Pocklington facing a tough home game against Malton and Norton. The question was whether, having beaten top of the League Moortown the week before and facing doomed Bradford and Bingley, the mindset might not be completely focussed and Selby’s potential not reached. However, any doubt was quickly dispelled as Selby, after a quiet opening 10 minutes, completely blitzed the Bees, running in 9 tries in a scintillating 30 minute spell and opening a 55 point half time advantage.

Having demolished Bradford at the very first scrum of the afternoon, Selby chose to take another scrum when Bees were penalised just 5 metres from their line following a storming run down the left flank by Hooker Adam Crooks. Once the ball was fed the outcome was never in doubt as the home side shunted their opposite numbers backwards and Jamie Ibbetson crossed for the easiest of tries just around the 15 metre line. The conversion by Alex Webster was well struck and Selby were up and running at 7- nil.

What was to follow was a superb display of running rugby as forwards and backs alike tore at the visitors’ defence and carved openings almost at will such that the bonus point was achieved within 15 minutes and the result put beyond doubt. The second try, scored by Bob Robinson was courtesy of a brilliantly judged long miss pass by Archie Bennett, deputising at fly half for Henry Wright, who hit the winger in full flight, giving the Bees defence no chance of laying a hand on him on his gallop to the line.

Just 3 minutes later Selby had their third try when Harry Cruise cleared up an untidy line out on the Bees 10 metre line and jinked his way past 4 defenders to cross for a fine individual score, converted by Webster for a 19 point lead. Webster then scored a copy-cat of his previous week’s try, charging down an attempted kick by one of the Bees defenders and reclaiming the ball to run in, albeit from just 10 metres. He was unable to add the conversion but the bonus point had been secured and Selby launched wave after wave of attacks at the visitors to cross another 5 times in the next 15 minutes, assured running and handling creating the space for speedster Dan Reid to add a quick-fire brace of tries before a storming run from the 22 metre line by Ben Lodge brought the biggest cheer of the afternoon. As the under fire visitors struggled to contain a rampant Selby 15, there were further tries for Archie Bennett and Charlie Bramley before the referee finally afforded the Bees some respite by bringing the half to a close, Webster managing to add 3 successful conversions for a scarcely believable 55-nil score-line.

Selby decided to allow all 3 bench players to begin the second half and made numerous changes throughout the remaining 40 minutes to try to avoid unnecessary injuries and this may well be one of the factors behind a somewhat disjointed second half. That, along with a much improved performance from the visitors, who knew there was only pride to play for, resulted in a more even contest as demonstrated by the scores which showed both teams crossing for 3 tries with one conversion apiece.

Skipper for the day, Jack Hebden certainly led from the front, crossing for the next 2 Selby tries in the third quarter with Cruise hitting a conversion to extend the lead to a staggering 67 points before Bees eventually got their well deserved reward for “hanging on in there” when Alex Ledbetter crashed over from short range after 62 minutes to finally open his side’s account. Not to be outdone, the Selby forwards were keen to exact revenge and within 3 minutes Sam Broughton restored Selby’s massive lead at 72 points to 5.

The ending to the match was somewhat scrappy and disappointing from a Selby perspective as the referee came down heavily on any indiscretion and repeated indiscipline saw the home side frequently penalised with no fewer than 3 players shown yellow cards in a matter of minutes. To their credit, Bradford and Bingley certainly made the home side pay, with Corey Spencer crossing twice in the final 8 minutes, one of which was successfully converted by the Bees outstanding player at Number 8, Jim Nicholas. Taking the game as a whole, the young Selby side showed continued significant improvement, helped in no small way by being able to select a pretty settled side and benefitting greatly from the input in coaching from Jacob Robinson and guidance on the field from the experience of Alex Webster. Recent performances and results have certainly made all of the other Clubs in the League start to take notice and recognise just how good Selby can be when everything clicks as it has done for the last three weeks.

When news filtered through of the other matches being played in the League, not only had Selby assured themselves of another season at Level 6 in Regional League 2 North East, but favourable results saw them climb to their highest League position of the season, leapfrogging both Crossleyans and Dronfield into 8th place with the definite possibility of improving further as the season draws to its conclusion.