Selby’s 1st and 2nd XV took a joint bus trip to the North East for the first time this season and whilst the sun was shining there was a slight nip in the air. The Selby travelling supporters were keen to see another exciting encounter following their first visit to Percy Park last year in the thrilling Papa John’s match, when Selby snatched victory in the last two minutes!

Selby kicked off against their hosts Percy Park, and after a mis-judged kick were quickly back on the halfway line with the feed to Percy Park. Although Selby dominated the scrum and managed a turnover they coughed up the ball 5 metres from PP try line. That pretty much set the tone for the 1st half, with both teams producing errors at key moments as they set about gauging each other. Selby were first to break the deadlock on 15 minutes when Paul Townend took a quick penalty on the half-way line giving the ball to skipper, Webster, who threw a pass out wide to speedster Infante; a slap down by the PP fullback saw him go to the bin and from the resulting penalty kick to the corner, Selby caught and drove to the line. First blood to Selby with Jamie Dentith coming up with the ball. Conversion missed by Wright.

The next 10 mins saw PP gain a foothold in Selby’s half and a combination of poor clearances and silly infringement at the ruck gifted the hosts a shot at goal in front of the sticks, which they duly took 3-5 to Selby 26 minutes played. Percy Park continued to make strides into the Selby’s half with good defence by Selby, frustrating the hosts. After weathering the storm, Selby managed to break out of their half and put some phases together only to slip up with a mis timed kick straight to touch. This gave the visitors an attacking lineout where they managed to break through the Selby defence, which had been rock solid all half, and the fullback raced over from an excellent move way inside their own half. Conversion successful 10-5 to PP 36 minutes gone.

More pressure from the kick off saw Selby concede another penalty at the breakdown. PP opted for the 3 points but fell short as Selby cleared their lines. It was Selby’s turn to have some possession, and they managed to put over 17 phases together as they inched towards the host’s try line, only to run out of numbers on the last ruck. PP gained possession – HT.

PP kicked off and after Selby broke out of their half a cross-field kick gave the hosts possession. The key strength of PP is their ability to hold on to the ball and a period of play where multiple phases took place, Selby infringed at the ruck. Kick to the corner ended in a scrum to Selby after some heroic defence again. More infringements at the ruck by Selby who were playing the wrong side of the fine offside line saw PP punch a kick to the corner. A not straight at the line gave Selby’s dominant scrum a chance to stretch their legs. A mix up at the base of the scrum saw the ball go forward which forced a second scrum. This time Selby took advantage to force a scrum penalty with Wright kicking to the hosts far corner. After a quick ball off the top of the lineout it was PP’s turn to defend as Selby battered their line. Pressure finally told and Wright put the visitors in the near corner for a lineout, a great catch and drive saw Joey Reid, who was on for Lamb, flop over for a well-deserved Selby try. Conversion by Wright 10 -12 to Selby 15 mins gone in the half.

Selby were starting to turn the screw as fatigue set in with the big Percy Park forwards. Promising moves ending in frustrating mistakes but importantly Selby were edging the breakdown and were spending more time in PP’s half. Inventive play amongst the PP backs saw them manage to escape the strangle hold and venture into Selby territory. Silly mistakes at the ruck forced a penalty to PP who duly kicked for the 3 points. 13 -12 PP - 25mins gone

Selby, feeling aggrieved at the amount of penalties they were giving away chased the kick off with vigour and quickly turned over the ball. Some great inter play between forwards and backs saw young Joe Scholefield scoot through in the far corner. Try to Selby converted by Wright 13-19 Selby.

From the gather at the kick-off, a strong clearance kick by Wright landed just past PP 10m line. A few dominant scrums later and Selby were awarded their 4th scrum penalty in front of the posts. 3 Points taken by Wright to make the score 13-22 to Selby with 12 minutes to go.

Frustratingly Selby conceded straight from the kick off as Vea was seen to have hands in the ruck. Great defence at the resulting lineout forced a turnover and scrum to Selby 10 m from their line.

What happened next will go down in Selby folklore. After pushing PP backwards for 20 meters the ref finally shot his arm out to signal a penalty to Selby. With no pressure Wright kicked a crossfield kick for young Joe Scholefield who jumped and took the ball magnificently. He duly fed the ball inside to a speeding Charlie Bramley who raced 40 meters to score under the posts. Wright Converted – 12-29

In the last 5 minutes Selby defended their line on numerous occasions as PP tried to salvage bonus points. A knock on over the line by PP saw Selby break out from the Scrum and a good clearance kick by Wright eased the pressure.

Full time and a well-deserved win for the young Swans and the first on the road this season. Although a scrappy game, Selby were patient and waited for the home pack to tire before turning the screw in the last 15 mins.

Well-done lads we can’t wait for 15th February against Sandal at home. One not to miss.

Meanwhile the 2nds kicked off a little earlier and came away with the win and were able to add their support to the final few minutes on the 1st team pitch. Score 12-57 with returning Danny Wilkinson getting a hat-trick.

Back at home, the 3s took on Ilkley and making it a three from three weekend with a win of 54-14, Jamie Francis adding to the hat-trick bonanza.