Selby RUFC 14 – 15 North Ribblesdale RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

Joy and relief at a hard won victory quickly turned to despair as Selby went down by the narrowest of margins in a crucial relegation battle against North Ribblesdale, 8 Minutes into time added on for injury Selby believed they had hung on for a 14 points to 10 victory when they eventually secured a turnover having repelled a series of 5 metre scrums and managed to clear the ball off the pitch. However the referee awarded another scrum to the visitors declaring that there were 9 seconds left to play. The heel was won safely and the Ribblesdale backs created the space for their Scrum Half David Fox to knock the stuffing out of all Selby supporters when he was able to squeeze in at the corner despite desperate attempts by the Selby defence. The missed conversion was of no consequence but the atmosphere in the ground had plummeted within the space of a few seconds.

The home side started the stronger of the two and took an early lead when Josh Cruise kicked his first penalty after just 3 minutes. As Selby continued to dominate the early exchanges they were able to create a couple of scoring chances but a combination of determined defence and the lack of a clinical edge meant that it took until the 16th minute for Selby to extend their lead. Under pressure, Ribblesdale were penalised for coming in at the side of the Ruck and Cruise kicked an excellent penalty from fully 45 metres. Ten minutes later Ribblesdale took the lead for the first time when they took a scrum against the head on the Selby 22 metre line and Centre Jonathan Richards side-stepped his way through the heart of the Selby defence to score under the posts, giving Fly Half Michael Thwaite the easiest of conversions. A penalty kick at goal from Cruise on 34 minutes was off target and when another penalty was won by the Selby forwards just 3 minutes later the option to kick to the corner proved to be a wise decision. A clean catch at the line out on the Ribblesdale 5 metre line set up the position from which the Selby forwards powered their way over for a try credited to replacement Ben Booth. Although Cruise was unable to convert from wide out, it meant that the home side went into the break with an 11 points to 7 lead.

The visitors started the second half in the ascendency but were unable to convert a couple of penalty opportunities and it was Cruise who extended his side's lead to 14-7 with his third successful kick of the afternoon from a penalty awarded for a deliberate knock on after 57 minutes. A penalty kick by Thwaite after 61 minutes reduced the deficit to 4 points meaning that Ribblesdale needed to kick 2 further penalties to gain the lead or else score a try. As the tension mounted Ribblesdale began to look the most likely side to score and Selby were grateful to Full Back Scott Hunt whose break down the right flank relieved a period of pressure and set up a promising position in the visitors' 22. Unfortunately Selby were unable to secure possession from their own put in at the line out and Ribblesdale drove back deep into Selby territory. With 80 minutes having gone Selby still held a four point advantage but found themselves under great pressure inside their 22. For almost 8 minutes of injury time Selby's determination to keep their line intact kept the Ribblesdale forwards at bay and yet there was almost a feeling of inevitability that the visitors would eventually score when that crucial last scrum gave them the chance to finally snatch the victory.

Results on the day saw Selby slip down into the second relegation spot and they now find themselves 3 points behind Yarnbury and 6 behind Ribblesdale with just 3 games to play. Hopefully the manner of last week's defeat will give them the determination and resolve to pick up points at Brodleians (who themselves suffered a 69 point mauling at Scarborough) in their next League fixture and in their final home game against Heath before the season finale away at Scarborough.