BRADFORD & BINGLEY RFC 38 – 12 SELBY RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson.

On a gloomy, dank afternoon Selby's young and inexperienced team put up a tremendous fight against a physical and well drilled Bradford and Bingley side who top the Division with just 1 League defeat in their 14 games so far this season. Despite being under tremendous pressure in the tight scrum, the Selby forwards did a great job to retain the majority of their possession at that phase of the game, worked very effectively at the line out and showed great skill in retaining possession at the breakdown.

The writing appeared to be on the wall as early as the 4th minute when the Selby scrum was shunted back and the hosts were awarded a penalty at which they opted for a re-set scrum on the Selby 5 metre line. With his forwards on the front foot, number 8 Lewis Brooke was able to plunge over for the opening try, with fly half Gerhard Nortier adding the extras with a well struck conversion and a 7 point lead for the Bees.

Although Bradford and Bingley continued to have the lion's share of possession, the Selby defence held firm and the forwards were able to force errors when driving at the heart of the Bees defence, creating a penalty opportunity for fly half Scott Hunt after 11 minutes and later being denied a score when a terrific burst by Skipper Duncan Hardy was pulled back by the referee for an accidental offside. However the home side showed how potent their attack could be in the final 10 minutes of the half, running in three further tries to claim their bonus point and extending their advantage to 26 points as Nortier converted 2 of the tries credited to winger Shaun Driver, full back Nick Gore and a second try for home number 8 Brooke.

Having been under the cosh for long spells, Selby put in a terrific performance after the break, effectively drawing the second half as both sides scored 12 points. The pressure that Selby were able to exert in the opening minutes of the half resulted in 2 of the Bradford players being shown a yellow card, the first when second row forward Harry Jeffery illegally halted a Selby forward drive and just a couple of minutes later Nortier followed him as the result of a deliberate knock on in front of the posts. From the ensuing penalty Selby made best advantage of their numerical advantage when full back Ben Lunt picked a great line to burst through the Bees defence and Ashton Dallimore was on hand to take the scoring pass and cross wide out for his first try of the season. An excellent conversion by Hunt at last gave the Selby faithful something to celebrate as the gap was reduced to 26-7. Undaunted by this set back, the home side showed how clinical they could be when, despite being two men down, their excellent back line stretched the Selby defence to create the score for centre Ben Greaves. With Nortier in the sin bin still, replacement kicker Driver was unable to make the conversion but the lead was extended to 24 points.

Selby immediately returned to the attack and as the Bees continued to attract the referee's displeasure were able to drive their way into the home side's 22. A kick to the corner from Hunt resulted in a line out in Selby's favour and a great catch and drive saw the Bradford forwards shunted back over their own line for a try awarded to Ben Booth after 62 minutes. Although Hunt's conversion was unsuccessful the try was just reward for the tireless work of the Selby side and it was a great pity when, after 70 minutes, a quickly taken penalty by the home side's scrum half picked out the games outstanding player, fly half Nortier, whose pace and eye for a gap saw him tear through the Selby defence for an excellent individual score which he converted himself to close the scoring and secure a 38-12 victory for his side.

Although the score-line flatters the runaway League leaders, there were some real positives for the Selby side as they refused to buckle in the face of extremely stiff opposition, winning close on 90% of possession on their own line out, conceding just 5 penalties despite being under tremendous pressure for long spells in the game and executing a game plan which for long spells frustrated a side which, by their own admission have chosen to recruit a number of “invited players” in what appears so far to be a successful bid to regain higher league status.