Selby RUFC 16 - 12 Yarnbury RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

For the third consecutive Saturday, Selby found themselves fighting both the elements and stiff opposition as a resurgent Yarnbury side arrived at Sandhill Lane for another important Yorkshire One fixture. In a tight battle, with tactics very much dictated by the appalling weather conditions, it was Selby who deservedly clinched the victory to give them a third League win and a tremendous boost as the League season reached the halfway stage.

The home side got off to the perfect start and registered their first points of the afternoon with barely a minute played when Yarnbury were penalised for handling in the ruck and fly half Scott Hunt struck a sweet penalty from 30 metres. With skipper Duncan Hardy and centre Ed Clark to the fore, Selby continued to take the game to the visitors and doubled their advantage after 15 minutes when Hunt again made Yarnbury pay for a further indiscretion, this time at the set scrum, sure footedly kicking the penalty to extend Selby's lead to 6-nil.

From then on the rest of the half was nip and tuck as both sides tried to seize the initiative, first Yarnbury reducing the gap to three after 23 minutes when full back Kieran Davies struck his first penalty, then Selby having the chance to re-establish their advantage when awarded a further penalty on 27 minutes. Unfortunately his kick missed the target and the rest of the half became a bit of a war of attrition as errors, penalties and yellow cards began to disrupt the flow of the game. Yarnbury drew level after 31 minutes when Selby number 8 Josh Booth conceded a penalty and was sent to the bin for 10 minutes and Davies slotted his kick from straight in front of the posts. Within 2 minutes numbers were evened up when Yarnbury's prop Richard Lister was also shown a yellow card and as the half drew to a close it was Yarnbury who wrestled the initiative when Davies found the mark with the last kick of the half from a penalty awarded for kicking the ball out of the ruck.

As conditions deteriorated further and spectators struggled to see and follow the action on the pitch it was Selby who struck the first blow of the second period. Yarnbury lost second row forward Tom Holden to the sin bin after 45 minutes and from the resultant penalty the Selby forwards used their extra man advantage to great effect, expertly mauling their way over the Yarnbury line for a try awarded to Hardy. Hunt struck an outstanding conversion from wide out on the right to open up a four point lead at 13-9. It was then Selby's turn to incur the wrath of the exchange referee from London who had made the trip up North following a weekend officiating at the Dubai 7s when second row Stephen Clark was shown a yellow card and Davies closed the gap to just 1 point with his fourth successful kick of the afternoon.

With both sides eventually returned to full strength it really was anybody's game and it was Selby who struck the next blow when Hunt stretched the lead back out to 4 with another well taken penalty after 71 minutes. With Yarnbury pressing for victory and Selby digging in, the game took a further dramatic twist when Selby's replacement Ben Booth was penalised and yellow carded for disrupting a maul by driving in at the side and Yarnbury elected to kick for the corner. A successful catch at the line out saw the entire Yarnbury team join the maul as it drove towards the Selby try line. Somehow the Selby defence remained resolute and managed to repel the attack and force a knock on. With scrums now deemed uncontested due to Booth's departure, the ball was secured and the kick to touch cleared the immediate danger. Again the visitors won clean ball at the line out and drove at the Selby forwards who refused to buckle and showed tremendous determination in holding up the maul. When the ball was eventually thrown out to the backs tremendous pressure from the Selby defence caused the error which finally handed the initiative and the game to the home side.

Although conditions determined that it would never be a spectacle, the closeness of the score and the tension created by the wholly understandable errors on both sides meant that the sizeable crowd were kept on the edge of their seats throughout an enthralling contest and it is great credit to all players involved that they were able to produce a game that entertained the crowd in spite of everything the weather could throw at them.