The expected stormy day at sea arrived for Selby away at Old Brodleians on Saturday, but the Swans weathered the storm to put in a battling performance that with a bit more composure on the ball could even have given them a chance to push the table-toppers to the limit.

Playing down the hill Old Brodleians set off at high pace playing a quick, slick, fifteen-man game that had Selby hanging on for dear life. Some good long defensive clearances from the Cruises gave some respite, but then a couple of unenforced fumbles gave Old Brodleians too much possession and they handled well to cross wide out for 5-0. With Selby continuing to struggle to retain possession in the loose, combined with a misfiring line-out and struggling scrum, Old Brodleians reaped the rewards with another two quick-fire tries – and although the missed conversions helped the Swans’ cause, a bit of thumping was looking a distinct possibility at 15-0 after twenty minutes.

Instead of capitulating though, Selby’s resolve remained firm and despite their attacking efforts continuing to misfire, they stuck at it fiercely in defence and hung on without conceding further – and indeed they had a couple of great chances to close the gap from five metre line outs close to half-time, but wasted both with yet more knock-ons.

Playing down the slope now Selby undid themselves straight away as a succession of handling errors and infringements gave Old Brodleians a five metre line out, and they piled over for 20-0 to seemingly seal the result. But again, Selby refused to buckle and with Coach Jay Robinson now on from the subs’ bench and their scrummage starting to get on top, they started to show much more promise in attack. When Robinson put in fellow substitute Jamie Dentith for a well worked try in midfield on the hour, Selby were suddenly looking the team most likely to score – and the rest of the match was played with the Swans on the attack. Scott Hunt did cross out wide late on but the ball was held up, and with Selby lacking the guile to break down the solid Old Brodleians’ defence, the match played out for 20-5 and a nil points return that maybe didn’t fully reflect Selby’s efforts.

Selby will hope to get back to winning ways against Leodiensians at home on Saturday, kick of 14:15, and all are welcome.