Selby travelled to Moortown on Saturday for a blustery afternoon encounter, with swirling winds playing a major role throughout and preventing either side from finding real fluency in a scrappy, hard-fought contest.

The visitors opened the scoring after 11 minutes. Showing patience through multiple phases, Selby worked the ball wide where skipper Alex Webster finished well in the corner. Charlie Bramley added the conversion to give Selby a 7–0 lead.

That advantage was short-lived. Moortown responded almost immediately with a controversial score, the ball appearing to be dropped in the act of grounding. Despite Selby’s protests, the try was awarded, and with the conversion missed the hosts closed the gap to 7–5.

Moortown then took the lead midway through the half, again scoring in the clubhouse corner. A cross-field kick initially looked over-hit, but the winger recovered superbly to dot down, before the conversion put the hosts 12–7 ahead after 24 minutes.

Selby were then forced into a backline reshuffle when Ben Poskitt left the field injured, adding to the disjointed feel of the game. Handling errors crept in on both sides as the strengthening wind made control and territory difficult to establish.

Moortown missed a late penalty just before the break, with appeals for a Selby knock-on waved away by the referee. Moments later, Charlie Cicero was shown a yellow card for killing the ball at a maul. Moortown immediately applied pressure following a dominant scrum, but Selby’s defence held firm, forcing a knock-on over the line as the referee brought an end to a scrappy first half with Moortown leading 12–7.

Selby began the second half positively, with Charlie Bramley slotting a penalty three minutes after the restart to reduce the deficit to 12–10. Moortown continued to enjoy an advantage at scrum time while Selby were temporarily a man down, but Cicero’s return steadied the pack.
A further Moortown try extended the hosts’ lead to 17–10, the conversion again drifting wide.

Strong carries from Antun Wilson and Dan Evans helped Selby work their way back into the contest, and the game swung on a moment of real quality. A perfectly weighted kick through from Archie Bennett was chased down by James Bramley, who won the race to the ball and touched down in the corner. Charlie Bramley then produced an excellent conversion from the touchline to level the scores at 17–17.

From the restart, Selby pressed for a decisive score. Powerful carries from Cicero and Laurence Taylor drove the visitors forward as the light began to fade. A turnover penalty on halfway gave Bramley the chance to put Selby ahead, but the kick fell agonisingly short.

Selby then enjoyed a brief reprieve when Moortown’s full-back broke cleanly but failed to pass to a supporting runner, the move ending with the ball lost over the line. That escape proved short-lived. With five minutes remaining, Moortown finally broke through, the winger running a superb line at pace to score before adding the conversion for a 24–17 lead.

Selby pushed hard for a late response, battering the Moortown line with a series of strong carries, but a knock-on five metres out ended the final opportunity. The referee’s whistle followed soon after, confirming a narrow 24–17 defeat in difficult conditions.