Yarnbury RFC 25 – 18 Selby RUFC

In their penultimate League match and with their fate very much in their own hands Selby struggled to find fluency and cohesion against a workmanlike Yarnbury side who were just 6 points above Selby before kick off. The fact that Selby were able to snatch a late bonus point in time added on at the end of the second half is however testament to their resilience and spirit, both of which will be needed in the final fixture at home to Scarborough next Saturday. A win in that game will see them guaranteed Yorkshire 1 Rugby next season, any other result will leave them sweating on results at Old Crossleyans and West Park Leeds.

The game at Yarnbury started brightly enough for the visitors but a wayward pass gifted possession to the home side and set the pattern for large periods of the game with both sides unable to take full control of the breakdown. Indeed, Selby made very little headway into the Yarnbury half in the opening half hour, during which they conceded 15 points courtesy of a penalty for fly half Keiron Davies after 14 minutes, a converted try by the same player following a speculative chip and fortunate bounce just 4 minutes later and an unconverted try after 26 minutes for home winger Alex Clarke. Selby's cause was not helped when flanker Matthew Wood, Selby's outstanding player in the previous 2 matches, was forced to leave the field injured with barely a quarter of the match played. The one spark for Selby came just 5 minutes from half time when full back Iain Adamson fielded a clearing kick just inside his own half and spotted a gap in the defence with players in support on the right hand side of the field. The move was carried on by Alex Hare but the Yarnbury defence were able to re-group and snuff out the chance to maintain their 15 point advantage going into the half time break.

Selby made the perfect start to the second half, winning a penalty straight from the re-start and Scott Hunt's well struck kick reduced the deficit to 15-3 and gave the visitors a much needed boost. There followed a period of midfield stalemate for the next 15 minutes until the game was brought to light when Millar McCoy chose the perfect line to tear apart the home defence before releasing replacement scrum half Sam Pocklington into space. Unfortunately for Selby the youngster did not quite have the legs to outsprint the Yarnbury defence and when he was hauled down just 5 metres short of the line his pass was spilled and the home side were able to quickly turn defence into attack, a flowing handling move breaking down just outside the Selby 22. There was little to cheer about when Yarnbury regained their 15 point cushion when Davies successfully converted a penalty after 71 minutes and hopes of gaining anything from the match seemed to be fading fast. The players seemed to have other ideas and reduced the gap by 5 points just 4 minutes later when Duncan Hardy benefitted from some clever play to round off an excellent handling move for an unconverted try and an 18-8 score-line. Thoughts of a possible losing bonus point were quickly dispelled when, with their very next attack, Yarnbury tore through the middle of Selby's defence and centre Jason Avison crossed by the side of the posts and Davies kicked the straightforward conversion. With just 2 minutes of normal time remaining no-one could have predicted that Selby would indeed claim a bonus point but that is just what they did. In the second minute of added on time a kick to the corner set up a position from which the Selby forwards shunted the home side back over their try line for a try credited to Mark Tanner. Although Hunt failed with the conversion Selby somehow conjured up enough energy and skill to reclaim the kick off and, moving the ball swiftly to the left created the overlap which gave speedster Alex Hare the space to race over in the corner and so reduce the losing margin to the 7 points needed for the bonus. A game that slumbered for long periods was brought to life in the most dramatic of finales imaginable and with Crossleyans going down heavily at York and West Park Leeds losing out at home to Old Brodleians, Selby edged another point closer to safety.

Whilst Selby entertain Scarborough, Crossleyans face a Halifax derby at home to Brodleians and West Park Leeds entertain Bridlington this week before finishing their campaign with a trip to Ribblesdale. Any two of the three sides could still find themselves playing in Yorkshire 2 next season and the Selby faithful will no doubt turn out in force to help their team try to gain the win that would ensure their Yorkshire 1 survival.