Bridlington RUFC 62 v 3 Selby RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

Selby opened their 2017 League programme with the daunting task of an away trip to runaway League leaders Bridlington and an already injury ravaged squad was depleted further before kick off with 3 changes to the side selected for the fixture. Despite playing with great commitment and never giving up, the inexperienced Selby team were massively outplayed by a very experienced, skilful and cohesive Bridlington side, conceding 10 tries in total and managing a solitary penalty kick courtesy of Josh Cruise after 17 minutes. In the first half Selby competed really strongly and held out until the 13th minute before Bridlington opened their account through Matthew Welsh, a try converted by Ben Dearing. Selby's Fly Half Scott Hunt made an excellent break shortly after the re-start but the Bridlington defence scrambled well, forcing the attack into touch just 5 metres short of the try line. Other than a further penalty opportunity to Cruise after 28 minutes, the rest of the half belonged to Bridlington who extended their lead through converted tries after 25 minutes (Second Row forward Paddy Waines crashing over from a quick tap penalty on the 5 metre line) and in the second minute of injury time (Dearing converting his own try from wide out following a flowing three quarter move after a line out on the Selby 22).

Turning round with a 21 points to 3 advantage, Bridlington made the ideal start to the second half, claiming the bonus point try after just 2 minutes when excellent handling skills by their backs created the space for Winger Gary Stevens to get his name on the score sheet. Although Dearing was unable to add the extras, the score opened the floodgates as Bridlington went on to add a further 6 tries. Stevens added his second after 50 minutes and things got even worse for Selby when skipper Duncan Hardy was yellow carded and a Penalty Try was awarded to the home side after 53 minutes for a scrum infringement. Tries for Ben Johnson and Prop Forward Ryan Napia were converted by replacement Martin Robinson whilst Hardy was off the field and his return did little to stem the Bridlington onslaught as further tries followed after 73 minutes (scored by Ryan Girking, but not converted) and finally in the first minute of injury time when James Thompson crossed for the home side's tenth try of the match and Robinson brought proceedings to a close with his third successful conversion.

This was clearly a match which demonstrated the gulf in class between a Club determined to go to great lengths to progress through the RFU League structure and a home based side who are happy to promote and rely on the pool of locally available young players. There is little doubt that Bridlington will be successful in gaining promotion from Yorkshire 1 this season and Selby will be engaged in their own struggle at the opposite end of the table, but the question remains as to how to define success, is it investing in a playing squad that may gain promotion for a couple of seasons or looking to support and develop local young talent and building a Club that caters primarily for its members? On this issue it would appear that the two Clubs have quite different views and both would strongly defend their own position.

This week Selby entertain Yorkshire 1 newcomers West Leeds who have definitely caused a stir this season with their open style of Rugby and who currently hold second place in the League following their recent comprehensive victory over Scarborough.