An overall disappointing performance on a heavy Morley pitch saw Selby slump to a 41 points to 14 defeat against opponents who had been beaten in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. There is no doubt that the injuries to two of Selby’s three quarters had a significant impact, but a lack of discipline saw Selby on the receiving end of 3 yellow cards which proved very costly as the home side ran in 4 tries when Selby were playing with reduced numbers.

Early exchanges were very even but Morley were able to open the scoring after 7 minutes when one of the forwards picked up and ran straight through the middle of a ruck on the 10 metre line. A clear run to the Selby 22 allowed him to offload to the supporting winger who ran in under the posts to present the scrum half with a simple conversion and a 7-nil lead.

A knock on from the kick off gave Selby a good attacking opportunity but after retaining the ball through several phases the chance was lost when the referee awarded a penalty in favour of the home side for “crossing”. Selby’s first clear cut scoring opportunity came after 15 minutes when Morley were penalised following a Selby turnover outside the 22 however Henry Wright didn’t get the chance to convert as the referee “timed out” the kick, awarding a scrum to Morley as a result.

Having cleared downfield, Morley were then gifted a kick at goal when back chat from one of the Selby players ended with the home side being awarded a penalty on the Selby 22 and the scrum half extended his side’s lead to 10 points. A double injury blow for Selby saw Ed Blackwell leave the field on 25 minutes with a hamstring injury and George Stoker removed as a precautionary measure with a bang to the head just a few minutes later. The re-shuffle in the backs saw Archie Bennett moved first onto the wing and then to full back as Bran Pearson covered the scrum half position and Bruce Potter filled in on the wing. Within minutes of joining, Potter was harshly sin-binned as the game moved in to stoppage time and Morley kicked to the corner, only to see the chance snatched away from them when the referee penalised the hooker for dummying the throw.

Having survived until half time with 14 men, Selby started the second half brightly but were dealt a double whammy as Morley took their advantage to 24 points in just a couple of minutes, the first try courtesy of a blind side break in their own 22 and slick inter-passing amongst the three quarters. That score was immediately followed by another try for the home side’s backs when the kick off was allowed to bounce into touch and from the resulting line out the Morley centres broke through the heart of the Selby defence before releasing the full back for a clear run under the posts.

Selby finally managed to open their account on 50 minutes when a clever cross kick from Wright was collected on the right wing by Dan Reid who drew the covering full back before releasing Archie Bennett to score the try just to the right of the uprights. Wright’s conversion narrowed the gap to 24-7 but within a couple of minutes the home side secured their try scoring bonus point when slick handling again outflanked the Selby defence for a try wide out on the right wing, which remained unconverted.

Selby reduced the deficit again when Wright was quickest to react to a speculative long pass in the Morley centres, latching on to the interception and enjoying a clear run to the line from just over half way, his conversion bringing the score to 29-14 with just under a quarter of the game to go. As players tired in the heavy conditions, errors increased in frequency and neither side really looked like scoring until Dan Reid was shown a yellow card after 70 minutes to the bemusement of supporters on both sides. Although Selby were able to stubbornly resist the Morley attack and force a scrum on the 5 metre line, a wayward pass from the base of the scrum was gathered by the Morley centre who crashed over to the right of the sticks, presenting the scrum half with another easy conversion and a 36-14 score-line.

Insult was added to injury for Selby as the game moved into stoppage time and replacement forward Ben Bell was also dispatched to the sin-bin for appealing for a forward pass (along with a large section of the crowd). Another kick to the corner allowed Morley the chance to again run at the Selby defence, eventually making their 2 player advantage count with a further try and a 41 points to 14 final score.