Hard Fought Victory Away at Rochdale

Rochdale 21 v Selby 24
Regional League 2 North East

A converted try deep into the second half secured the Swans a deserved and hard fought victory, exacting revenge for the home loss earlier in the season when Rochdale stole the points with a last minute penalty. Despite the recent rainfall, the Rochdale pitch looked in good nick if a little on the soft side but further rain as the second half got underway made for really difficult conditions and it is great credit to both sides that they continued to play with ball in hand right to the last play of the game.

Selby kicked off playing away from the Rochdale Clubhouse and were soon attacking the Rochdale line, but as would be the case for most of the afternoon, the home side proved resolute in defence and despite a number of charges by the Selby forwards, it was the home side who eventually gained the advantage when Selby were penalised for holding on in the tackle just metres short of the line. The clearing touch kick was swiftly followed by another penalty in favour of the home side and within a blink they were in the Selby 22 with the put in at a line-out some 15 metres out. A clean take set up a position from which the Rochdale forwards had the chance to go through the phases and when the ball was switched back to the short side a clever show and go opened up the Selby defence and the home side struck the first blow with a try 15 metres in from touch which their talismanic Fly Half duly converted to give his side an early 7 point advantage,

Selby returned to the attack but had little joy in breaking down the Rochdale defence until 20 minutes had elapsed. A speculative kick out from the Rochdale 22 was brilliantly dealt with by Full Back Ben Poskitt who launched a counter attack down the Selby left wing. Good quick ball on the 22 and excellent handling created the space for Jamie Dentith to crash through the heart of the home defence before offloading to skipper Alex Webster who ran around under the posts, presenting Henry Wright with a straightforward conversion which levelled things up at 7 points apiece.

As the first half progressed Selby began to get on top in the Scrum, repeatedly putting the home forwards under pressure and it was no real surprise when they eventually forced a penalty just outside the home 22 and pretty much in front of the sticks. Wright duly converted the kick to open up the slenderest of advantages at 10 points to 7 in favour of the visitors. The lead was however short-lived as the home side put pressure on the kick off, regained possession and drove down into the Selby 22. With most options seemingly covered a smart chip over the defensive line saw the Rochdale Full Back win the race to the touch down just before the ball ran dead. Another well struck kick gave the home side a lead which they were able to hold onto until the half time break, as Selby began to struggle for accuracy at the line out with Rochdale taking advantage and repeatedly pushing the visitors back towards their own line.

A marked improvement at the line out from the start of the second half helped Selby put the pressure back on and another penalty allowed Wright to kick down into the home 22. A clean take and a number of drives had the Rochdale defence creaking, only for the referee to intervene when a clash of heads saw Jamie Ibbetson needing assistance from the physio before resuming at the ensuing scrum. As the weather deteriorated handling became increasingly difficult with dropped passes allowing Rochdale to hack the ball away from their 22. It was from a failed clearance that Selby were able to pounce as the backs ran from the wide right flank. Winger Reuben Callau saw the smallest of gaps in the Rochdale defence and dummied his pass on the 22. A try looked a certainty until the youngster was pole-axed by the Rochdale Fly Half, leaving the referee with little option but to award a penalty try to Selby and send the offending player to the sin-bin for 10 minutes. Unfortunately, Callau also needed treatment meaning that a re-shuffle of personnel was needed with Francis taking up the wing berth. Selby now held a 3 point advantage at 17-14

Losing such an influential player seemed to somehow galvanise the home side and they duly forced a kickable penalty from the re-start, however the replacement kicker didn’t have the same accuracy and a chance to level the scores was lost. Despite this further setback, the home side continued to have the better of things, repeatedly disrupting Selby at the tackle and set scrum before they were able to turn ball over inside the 22 and repeated close range drives were eventually rewarded with a try at the side of the posts which was easily converted to restore the lead in favour of the home side at 21-17.

From then on the game was a story of constant Selby pressure and absolute determined defence from Rochdale’s backs and forwards alike as the visitors pounded away inside the home 22. Set scrums saw Rochdale penalised on several occasions with the Selby eight opting to re-set but still unable to find a way through. As chances to score went begging, it seemed to the Selby faithful that this was just not going to be their day, but it is great testament to the resilience and belief of such a young side that they refused to give in and somehow eventually created enough room for replacement Sam Broughton to thunder over and snatch the lead at 22-21 with very little time to play. Wright’s assured conversion meant that Rochdale would need a penalty to earn a share of the spoils, but there was no way Selby were going to let that happen as they forced a line out on the Rochdale 10 metre line, safely made the catch and successfully wound the clock down to claim a fantastic victory which strengthened their position at the top of Regional League 2 North East

With 5 matches still to play Selby find themselves in a good position, but realise there is still a lot of hard work to do starting with another tough away fixture at Dronfield and testing home games to follow against second placed Brodleians and a resurgent Scarborough.