Selby RUFC 17 – 18 Bradford Salem RFC

Despite outscoring their opponents by 3 tries to 2 and creating the better scoring chances, the only reward Selby gained from their latest Yorkshire 2 League fixture was a losing bonus point as they went down by a single point to a Bradford Salem side who relied on their big pack of forwards to grind out an away victory at Sandhill Lane. With greater accuracy in their passing and consistency in the goal-kicking department Selby could be placed higher than the mid-table position they currently occupy.

Playing with the advantage of the breeze in the first half, Selby soon found themselves behind as an offside decision at a fourth minute line-out presented Salem’s Jonny Robinson with a straightforward penalty chance and a 3 nil lead to the visitors. As Salem applied most of the early pressure Selby struggled and unforced errors too often handed the initiative to the Bradford side. A line-out in the 14th minute won by Salem against the throw gave them the opportunity to launch an attack at the Selby line and when the ball was spread wide full back Chris Savva was on hand to take the scoring pass and cross in the corner.

After a period of parity in the middle of the opening half, Selby found themselves further behind on 30 minutes when a penalty for holding onto the ball in the tackle resulted in a further successful kick for Robinson and an 11 point advantage for his side. Within a couple of minutes of the re-start Selby forced their way back into the game when turnover ball on the Salem 22 gave Alex Webster the chance to break the Salem defence and offload to flying winger Alex Arthur who crossed by the posts to present Webster with the easiest of conversions which narrowed the deficit to just 4 points. A period of Selby dominance in the rest of the half could well have brought further tries but firstly Iain Adamson was hauled down just short of the line and then a great break by Ben Lunt was wasted as a poor pass prevented an almost certain try.

Playing with the breeze in the second half, Salem soon had the home side under pressure but terrific defensive work prevented any further score and a great break out by Webster, Lunt and Blaymire gave Arthur the scoring chance but the winger was adjudged to have been held up over the line and the opportunity was gone. However the pressure on the Salem defence was made to pay in the 57th minute when a quick tap penalty just metres from the try line saw prop forward Andy Pocklington crash over, a feat he was to repeat just 3 minutes later when supporting a break by Blaymire. Unfortunately neither conversion attempt was successful, but Selby held the upper hand at 17-11.

Things seemed to be heading Selby’s way when Salem’s Booth was penalised and yellow carded after 61 minutes, however the sides were balanced up again almost immediately afterwards when Blaymire too was given 10 minutes in the bin. Within 2 minutes of being reduced in numbers the Selby forwards found themselves facing a tremendous surge from a Salem rolling maul which eventually allowed Savin to claim the try. An excellent conversion by Robinson proved to be the decisive moment of the game though Selby went all out for the score that would clinch the game. With the game well in to stoppage time Selby were presented with one final chance when tremendous pressure forced Salem to concede a penalty, however Webster was unable to convert the difficult chance into the strengthening wind and Salem managed to hold on for the narrowest of wins.