Selby RUFC 19 v 12 West Park Leeds RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

The battle between the League's bottom sides was every bit as tense and nervy as was anticipated but resulted in a well deserved and very welcome victory for the home side which enabled them to close the gap on the side immediately above them and will have done much to restore confidence amongst the players.

Unusually it was Selby who had to soak up the early pressure as West Park's forwards, with a strong breeze at their backs, drove deep into the Selby 22. The visitors had the first chance to take the lead when awarded a penalty after just 6 minutes but full back Andy Cromack was unable to find the target. As West Park continued to dominate both possession and territory it seemed only a matter of time until they opened their account and after 14 minutes a well constructed catch and drive at a line out on the Selby 22 saw the visitors propel the Selby forwards at a rate of knots back to their own line for a try awarded to Number 8 John Fletcher. The conversion was again unsuccessful but things looked ominous for the home side in the face of such a powerful early onslaught. However with the back row of Dom Bosher, Paddy Rowntree and James Blaymire leading the way at the tackle Selby began to force their way back into the game and a smart break by full back Alex Webster almost created Selby's first score, only a tap tackle 5 metres from the line preventing winger Nick Firth from opening his account.

An almost identical break after 22 minutes again put Selby into a promising position but ultimately brought no reward and as Selby piled on the pressure it was more a question of when they would score rather than if. A penalty conceded by the West Park blind side Flanker after 36 minutes saw him Yellow Carded and presented centre Iain Adamson with the simplest of kicks to reduce the deficit to just 2 points. As the game moved into the time added on at the end of the half the game burst into life as Selby tried to attack from their own ten metre line and West Park's outstanding open side flanker Clayton Hill intercepted a wayward pass to run in under the posts unopposed and Cromack's conversion suddenly saw the visitors with a 9 point cushion. Incredibly Selby struck back in the 10th minute of time added on when an excellent break from scrum half Andy McLoughlin provided the space for Nick Firth to cross wide out for a well deserved try. The difficult conversion drifted wide of the mark but at 12-8 in arrears Selby were well in with a chance given the benefit of the breeze in the second half.

Selby reduced the arrears further just 1 minute into the second period when Adamson struck his second successful kick from a penalty awarded for not releasing in the tackle. As the West Park forwards began to tire Selby began to get the upper hand in the scrum and a dominant scrum after 50 minutes resulted in a further penalty and Adamson kept his cool to give his side the lead for the first time in the match. As the game ebbed and flowed it was the visitors who had the next scoring opportunity after 60 minutes but Cromack was again unsuccessful with his kick at goal and the Selby faithful heaved a collective sigh of relief.

With the game very much in the balance Selby managed to put together a number of phases which produced the crucial, match wining try after 67 minutes. A super kick from fly half Scott Hunt drove the West Park Forwards back into their own 22 and pressure at the line out forced the visitors into conceding a further penalty. Spurning the chance of a kick at goal Selby instead opted to kick for the corner and a perfectly executed, rehearsed play at the line out created the chance for prop forward Greg Nagle to crash over from 10 metres. Although the kick from wide out was unsuccessful the lead was up to 7 points meaning that West Park would need to score twice to snatch the victory. Although spectators from both sides endured a nerve shredding final 15 minutes, the Selby players were able to resist everything the visitors threw at them to secure only their second win of the League season.

With a break from League Rugby next week Selby will be looking for another confidence boosting performance in the Yorkshire Shield when they travel to Barnsley. If the back row continue to force errors in their opponents and Selby's mobile and skilful ball handling props can create the sorts of gaps they did this week then there will be plenty of opportunity for Selby's improving back line to show their mettle too.