Selby’s fairytale start to the season turned into a nightmare away at bottom placed club Keighley on Saturday as the hosts paid no heed to league positions to dish out a comprehensive spanking to the Swans.

Selby may have been missing just a few of the their more influential players but it reflected enormously in their play as they produced a poor and lacklustre display from start to finish – with notable exceptions being Joe Ramsay at full back who had a sparkling game throughout, and late call up Scott Birch who showed up well in the back row.

Keighley’s 4G pitch produces fast open rugby and the West Yorkshiremen made full use of it from the off, recycling possession to spread the ball wide to stretch the Selby defence to score a good try in the corner for 5-0 after five minutes. Selby in comparison were lethargic and their ball retention awful as they lost possession with dispiriting regularity, and it was no surprise when Keighley intercepted a loose pass in midfield to race in from sixty metres for 12-0 after twelve minutes. With Keighley outplaying Selby in nearly every aspect (apart from the scrums) the game was effectively done and dusted after twenty five minutes as they added a penalty and then another long-range try as they waltzed through the flimsy Swans defence. Finally some respite for Selby as a kick to the corner actually found touch enabling the pack to drive the line out over for James Dentith to touch down for 20-5 on the half hour. Immediately from the restart though Selby lost possession yet again and Keighley, prompted by their excellent fly-half, opened then up like a tin of kippers for another try in response. And when, under no pressure whatsoever, Keighley won a line out in midfield, their 10 simply chipped over the line to collect his own kick to score for 32-5 as easy as pie.

Selby’s only real attacking threat was coming from young Ramsay at full-back and with him seeing a lot of ball (before Keighley wised up about not kicking it to him!) he made good ground with a number of elusive counter attacks - and was desperately unlucky not to cap one off with a try in the corner, as only a great Keighley cover tackle downed him just short. Birch too in the forwards was managing to break the line but Keighley were good in defence to quickly recover and hunt down any breeches, and with them getting the better of the breakdowns, Selby’s progress was limited.

The second half for Selby was, realistically, a quest for a losing four-try bonus point, but matters did not improve greatly – highlighted by their almost criminal inability to find touch on a number of occasions with penalties in good attacking positions.

However, with time running out a brief period of possession for Selby after good breaks from James Robinson and Harrison Green set up the forwards to camp on the Keighley line for Ash Parkinson to eventually barrel over for the try. And when Birch and then Ramsay again made the breaks to return to the hosts’ line, repeated scrum offences saw Keighley reduced to thirteen men before Josh Cruise grubber kicked through for Robinson to collect and touch down for 32-17. A late chance to score the fourth Selby try, and garner some crumb of comfort from the match, was stymied by yet another missed touch - before Keighley’s 10 showed how to do it by finding his touch in the corner, allowing his forwards to drive over for a final try and 39-17 score-line.

Selby now entertain local rivals and friends, Goole, at Sandhill Lane on Saturday, the first league derby for quite some time following their promotion last year – and an enthralling match is in prospect!