Heath RUFC 33 – 20 Selby RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

On a day when Selby needed a top rate performance to give themselves a chance to put daylight between themselves and other sides at the lower end of Yorkshire 1, they were dealt an early blow when Skipper Rob Taylor was forced from the field with the game barely 4 minutes old and then failed to match the intensity of a fired up Heath side, coming away with nothing to show for their efforts on an overcast, damp afternoon.

The home side took just 8 minutes to register their first score when a clean Line-out 15 metres from the Selby line set up the position from which the Forwards were able to repeatedly recycle the ball, eventually driving Second Row Forward Matt Beastie over for his side's first try. Ezra Hinchcliffe added the conversion and just after the quarter of an hour mark he added to his points tally when he spotted a gap in the Selby defence to cross for a try wide out. He was unable to add the extras to his own try but already the home side had a healthy 12 point advantage. Selby were finding difficulty getting any cohesion into their play and it wasn't until close to the half hour mark that the visitors eventually got themselves on the scoreboard. When Heath were penalised for off-side young Scrum Half Danny Wilkinson spotted the chance for a quick tap and managed to weave his way through the home defence for a fine individual try. Josh Cruise made no mistake with the conversion and shortly afterwards struck his second successful kick when Heath were again caught offside and Cruise reduced the deficit to just 2 points at 12-10. With Heath's Prop Forward Chris Moore yellow carded on the stroke of half time, hopes were high that Selby would be able to take advantage in the second half.

Despite falling behind to a penalty from Hinchcliffe after 49 minutes, Selby were still in the hunt and within a minute of Hinchcliffe's score they snatched the lead. Having recaptured the ball from their kick off Selby moved the ball smartly away from the contact area and sure handling among the backs saw Cruise find Duncan Hardy wide out on the wing and the Prop Forward added to his impressive try scoring record by crashing over wide out. An excellent conversion from Cruise saw Selby take a 17-15 lead, but the lead was unfortunately short-lived as Heath regained the advantage courtesy of Hinchcliffe' s boot after 52 minutes and then extended the lead with a further penalty after 65 minutes which saw the home side lead by 21 points to 17.

Unusually for Selby this season, they began to struggle as the match wore on and it was no great surprise when the Heath Forwards scored the home side's third try from a push over following a scrum on the Selby 5 metre line. Selby were at least given the chance to register a losing bonus point when a rare incursion into the Heath half after 76 minutes saw them gain another penalty for offside and Cruise hit a tremendous kick from over 40 metres to bring the difference between the sides down to 6 points. With just 4 minutes of normal time remaining there were hopes among the Selby faithful of hanging on to the bonus point but Heath had different ideas as they went in pursuit of their first Bonus Point victory of the season. The game had entered its final minute when the Heath Forwards hammered the final nail into the Selby coffin by mauling their way to the Selby line and driving Beastie over close to the posts for his second try of the afternoon. The easy conversion by Hinchcliffe brought proceedings to a conclusion on an afternoon which Selby will want to forget. The whole side will no doubt be looking forward to having the chance to make amends for an inexplicably low key performance when they travel to Hullensians next Saturday for their penultimate match in the pre-Christmas fixture Calendar.