Selby RUFC 26 - 40 Old Brodleians RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

With the original fixture postponed due to a flooded pitch Selby found themselves without a number of players due to the Easter Holidays, to the extent that promising youngsters Will Edwards and Sam Pocklington were handed their senior debuts at fly half and full back respectively. It is a great testament to the boys that despite being just 17 years old both put in eye catching performances and appeared unfazed by the step up to First Team rugby.

Selby played with the benefit of the strong breeze in the first half and soon established territorial advantage. A series of penalties allowed Selby to force their way to the Brodleians 5 metre line and a solid catch at the line out established the platform for prop forward Greg Nagle to be driven over the line for Selby's opening score after just 7 minutes, Edwards failing with a difficult conversion from wide out. The lead was short lived as Brodleians powerful forwards began to stamp their mark on the game and after 13 minutes the visitors took the lead for the first time when influential prop forward Josh Cricknay was driven over from a line out and Phil Town successfully converted to give his side a 7- 5 advantage.

Within just 5 minutes Selby regained the lead when a mistake in Brodleians midfield gifted possession to returning second row forward Brendan Lanaghan who fed the supporting Nagle. The defence was breached by Nagle's powerful burst and scrum half Andy McLoughlin was on hand to take the try scoring pass and run in under the sticks, presenting Edwards with a straightforward conversion and restoring the 5 point lead in favour of the home side. For the rest of the first half the game ebbed and flowed as the sides continued to swap scores as the lead switched one way and then the other, Brodleians scoring their second try after 24 minutes through full back Dominic Georgiou with Town converting and then Selby's full back Sam Pocklington marking his debut with a great score just 4 minutes later when centre Alex Hare, who caused problems for the Brodleians defence all afternoon with his strong running, broke the first line of defence and put the youngster in for a run under the posts. Edwards converted for a 19-14 advantage which remained until the last minute of the half. Great interplay between the visiting forwards and backs eventually created the space for Cricknay to cross for his second try of the afternoon and Town's conversion ensured that the visitors turned round with a slender advantage at 21-19 and the benefit of the elements at their backs.

Within a couple of minutes of the re-start Brodleians were able to stretch their lead to 9 points when a powerful drive at the first scrum of the half allowed back row forward Luke Scrimshaw to cross for the try which ensured the 4 try bonus point for his side and Town again hit the mark with his conversion. It would have been easy for Selby's inexperienced side to crumble following this early setback but they showed tremendous resolve and determination to score next and so secure their own bonus point when Hare again caused chaos amongst the Brodleians midfield and winger Matthew Leetham finished in style to the left of the posts and Edwards once again reduced the deficit to 2 points with his conversion.

Unfortunately that was as close as the home side got to victory as the greater experience and strength of the visiting forwards, particularly at the breakdown, began to tell. Further tries after 50 minutes for Matt Hoyle which he converted himself and 60 minutes for second row Forward Harley Morris gave Brodleians a comfortable 14 point cushion. The Selby side threw everything at the Brodleians defence for the last 20 minutes but were unable to create any further clear cut scoring chances with the final whistle arriving with the score-line at 40 points to 26 in the visitors' favour.

The significance of the result was soon acknowledged by the Selby faithful as the bonus point secured for 4 tries put the Sandhill Lane side 1 point ahead of Old Crossleyans and so out of the two relegation positions in the League. Next Week Selby travel to bottom placed West Park Leeds whilst Crossleyans take on League Champions elect Bradford and Bingley and results of the two games could go a long way to deciding which 2 of the bottom 3 sides finish the season with relegation to Yorkshire League 2.