Selby RUFC 21 - 15 Doncaster Phoenix RUFC

It certainly made a refreshing change to see the Selby first fifteen snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat when all too often in the recent past the opposite has tended to happen. A last minute try by Alex Webster converted by Ben Booth saw Selby steal the win in a game that otherwise had few memorable moments. Indeed the first half was almost instantly forgettable with little of the open play that has often been a feature of Selby’s play this season. The loss of influential back row player James Blaymire with a serious looking ankle injury after just 7 minutes play was probably the only event of note in an otherwise attritional first half. Neither side was ever able to establish superiority though the Doncaster outfit had a couple of penalty chances against a solitary unsuccessful effort from Selby’s Number 8 Ben Booth.

Fortunately for the hardy Selby spectators the second half gave them much more to cheer about as the advantage swung one way and then the other. After just 6 minutes of the half Selby were able to capitalise on a Phoenix handling error, Duncan Hardy picking up a loose ball on his own 22 and making good ground before feeding Alex Webster who raced in from fully 55 metres for a try under the sticks. The conversion by Booth was a formality and established a 7 point lead for the hosts. Any celebration was short lived as Phoenix struck back almost immediately. A poor clearance following the re-start gifted Phoenix a line out just metres from the Selby line and, as was the case all afternoon, the visiting forwards secured good possession. Although the Selby forwards battled bravely to repel 4 or 5 assaults on their line, once the ball was moved wide the space was created for winger Mick Sykes to cross by the posts, the resulting conversion by Millar tying the scores at 7 each.

The sizeable crowd had barely drawn breath when Selby again established a 7 point lead courtesy of a try by full back Ben Lunt. A well worked maul on the visitors 22 produced good clean ball and when it was shifted wide Lunt timed his run into the line to perfection, proving unstoppable from 20 metres out and providing Booth with a second straightforward conversion. The frantic nature of scoring at the start of the second half was a stark contrast to the events of the first period and within just 4 minutes Phoenix had closed the gap to 2 points. An astute kick out of defence by the visitors lead to another attacking line out close to the Selby line and there was an air of inevitability about what happened next. The ball was claimed with ease and the forwards mauled to the Selby try line. A quick change of direction and short pass to the blind side created just enough space for winger Adam Burton to score by the corner flag.

From that point it was the visitors who began to dominate, using the wind and their forwards to good effect and eventually drawing the Selby defence into making an error in front of their own posts. The resulting penalty, successfully converted by Millar gave Phoenix the lead for the first time at 15-14 with under quarter of an hour to play.

Apart from one brief foray into Phoenix territory, it looked like the visitors were going to keep Selby at bay until, in the first minute of time added on, an inexplicable wild pass thrown by one of the Doncaster three quarters was collected by Webster who still had the pace and fitness to hold off the desperate attempts of numerous Phoenix defenders on a 75 metre race to the line for a dramatic score which was to provide Selby with a much needed yet hardly deserved victory, the conversion by Booth only serving to rub salt into the visitors wounds.