Selby RUFC 8 v 41 West Leeds RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

A Selby squad containing 10 players less than 20 years of age put in a very encouraging performance against a confident and clinical West Leeds side who demonstrated why they currently sit in second place in Yorkshire 1. The home side were able to match the visitors for long spells in the game but any mistakes were quickly capitalised on by one of the League's most expansive sides and as a result the pace of the game took its toll on the Selby youngsters who faded somewhat in the final quarter of the match.

Selby started the game determined not to allow the reputation of the visitors to overawe them and were the first team to have a scoring opportunity when West Leeds were penalised after 7 minutes, but Josh Cruise's long distance effort drifted wide of the mark. West Leeds then broke into the Selby half and when the home side were penalised for offside in front of their posts, visiting Fly Half Steffan James opened his side's account with a straightforward kick at goal. The visitors' lead was extended after 17 minutes when former Leeds Rhinos player Mark Calderwood followed up a chip to the line, winning the race to the touch down wide out on the right hand flank. An excellent conversion from James opened up a 10 nil advantage for the visitors, but it was Selby who were next to score shortly after Centre Sam Neave had been shown a yellow card after 26 minutes. A kick to the corner from a penalty awarded for illegal play at the breakdown gave Selby the throw in at the Line out and a well worked move from the resulting clean catch saw Second Row Stephen Clark driven over, much to the delight of the Selby faithful. Cruise was unable to hit the conversion but the boost in confidence was clear to see in the way Selby tried to really take the game to West Leeds, spreading the ball wide and retaining possession until a miss-directed pass or dropped ball presented the visitors to release the pressure on their defence. With no reward for their efforts Selby then found themselves further behind after 35 minutes when Scrum Half Angus Milborn spotted the smallest of gaps around the side of the tackle area and broke away for a fine individual try, James' conversion stretching the gap to 12 points at 17-5. However Selby were to have the final word of the half when another strong attack involving Forwards and Backs forced West Leeds to concede a penalty just to the left of the posts and deep in their 22. Cruise made no mistake with the final kick of the half to reduce the deficit to 9 points and give his side a deserved lift going into the break.

The second half was barely 5 minutes hold when West Leeds scored their next try. Selby were forced to concede a 5 metre scrum and after several attempts at battering their way over, the visitors then spread the ball wide to give Calderwood the time and space to cross for his second try of the afternoon. James was this time unable to nail the kick but his side had some breathing space at 22 points to 8 with the home side needing to score 3 times if they were going to take the win. The next 20 minutes produced no further scores but provided the crowd with plenty of entertainment as both sides opened the game up and plat flowed from end to end. As in the first half a number of promising attacks from Selby broke down as their inexperience showed when trying to force a pass when holding onto the ball would have retained possession and kept the pressure on the visitors. The visitors' 4th try after 65 minutes came somewhat out of the blue and against the run of play but West Leeds showed just how dangerous they can be on the counter attack, Full Back Keir Breakwell securing the bonus point and James adding the extras to give the visitors a 29 points to 8 advantage.

As the home side tired in the closing minutes West Leeds were quick to take advantage and Flanker Dec Penny added a brace of tries, firstly from a Line out taken against the throw after 72 minutes and then deep into injury time when repeated drives at the heart of the Selby defence eventually created space round the edge of the ruck and Penny was able to pick and gallop clear for his side's 6th try of the afternoon. James added the conversion to finish the game with a flattering 41 points to 8 margin for the visitors, a score line which does not do any justice to the efforts of the Selby youngsters. Many of the casual observers were heard to remark that a similar performance by Selby against most of the sides in Yorkshire 1 would have almost certainly have brought greater reward and with a crucial game at Yarnbury up next in a couple of weeks, there will be time to reflect on the many positives from this performance and to work on those marginal areas which just failed at crucial moments against a very talented West Leeds outfit.