SELBY 22 WATH UPON DEARNE 30

NORTHERN DIVISION YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 2.

Selby started the 2012 campaign with a performance full of character and endeavour against an in form, highly motivated and confident South Yorkshire squad featuring a huge pack and no little attacking skills across the backs, and could consider themselves unlucky to have taken only a single bonus point from the encounter.
Whilst perhaps the dominance of possession and territory by the elephantine Wath forwards justified their win, the svelte Swans scored four tries to their opponents three, and only two late, unkind penalties, well taken by winger Ben Keen, denied a further losing point for the hosts.
The home side snapped and fought like true Yorkshire Terriers, competing for every ball and giving and receiving no quarter, as they sought to repel the weighty Wath warriors, and with their threequarters bristling with pace and desperate to get in on the action with what little ball they received, but it was the visiting wingman Brett Small who opened the scoring following a break by the dangerous Keen from the opposite wing. Keen converted the first of his six successful strikes.
The next score was from the Swans, and what a score, as young Josh Cruise threw a long pass from behind his own posts to the aspirant antipodean, full back Dan Porter, who dummied and stepped through a startled defence & sprinted the length of the field, turning his opposite number inside out as he romped home under the posts for Cruise to convert.
The Sandhill Lane crowd then sensed an upset as once again the ball was carried upfield & big Martin Protheroe was on hand to finish, shrugging off two defenders on his surge to the line, with the half closing with Selby somewhat improbably, but deservedly holding a narrow lead.

The break though saw Wath whipped up with the forwards gradually asserting control over their opponents whose cause was not helped with the loss of their inspirational front row forward, actual Antipodean Duncan Hardy, and they gained an early reward with another Keen penalty, and when No 8 Matthew Burrows forced over the game felt to be slipping away for the Swans.
Then a superb break down the flank supported by wingers Ben Lunt & Ollie Saunders & then Porter saw Super cool Cruise cruise in for another exciting score.
The excitement though was too much as the giddiness continued with that man Keen stepping inside three defenders for a score which came far too easily against a team which had defended so heroically all afternoon.
Even then the home side refused to lie down and another breakaway score this time from the elusive Saunders put them back into the reckoning with just a two point defecit, and although they competed to the end Keen’s final two strikes took his team home for a well fought win.
Perhaps if Selby’s kickers had been on form & converted more than one of their opportunities and Keen had been less keen eyed, the result could have been different, but this was a cracking game to watch with some super rugby, fierce competion and even a display of handbags of which Meryl Streep would be proud.

Next week sees the team travel to renew old rivalries with Ripon who’s surprise result last week may herald an upturn in fortunes for them, so skipper Paul Randell should prepare them for another fiest fixture.

SELBY LINE-UP:

15 Full Back Porter D
14 Wing Saunders O
13 Centre Webster A
12 Centre Arthur A
11 Wing Lunt B
10 Stand Off Cruise J
9 Scrum Half Daniels J
1 Prop Pocklington A
2 Hooker Randell P (Captain)
3 Prop Hardy D
4 Lock Lanaghan B
5 Lock Cicero J
6 Flanker Brown K
7 Flanker Blaymire J
8 No 8 Protheroe M

Substitutes

Bell T (For Hardy D – 46 Minutes)
Adamson I (For Lunt B – 61 Minutes)
Booth B (For Protheroe M – 63 Minutes)

NORTHERN DIVISION YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 2
SEASON 2011-2012.

TEAM P W D L FOR AGAINST DIFF B.P.'s POINTS DED

Barnsley 16 12 1 3 560 290 270 11 61
Bradford Salem 16 12 2 2 477 225 252 9 61
Wath Upon Dearne 15 12 0 3 418 226 192 6 54
Leodiensian 15 11 0 4 420 215 205 9 53
West Park Leeds 16 8 4 4 375 240 135 9 49
Hullensians 16 10 1 5 350 351 -1 6 43 5
SELBY 15 8 0 7 307 316 -9 7 39
Yarnbury 16 7 1 8 329 330 -1 8 38
Doncaster Phoenix 16 6 2 8 316 332 -16 8 36
West Leeds 16 5 1 10 341 408 -67 6 28
Ripon 16 5 1 10 249 370 -121 2 24
Skipton 15 4 1 10 218 384 -166 4 22
Moortown 16 3 0 13 242 571 -329 4 11 5
Goole 16 0 0 16 179 523 -344 1 1