Old Crossleyans RUFC 43 – 7 Selby RUFC

Report by Ian Marlow (Posted by Stephen Ward)

After a promising start Selby succumbed to another heavy defeat with a dismal performance away at Old Crossleyans.

Away wins at Crossleyans are rarer than hen’s teeth but with a strong-looking side out Selby supporters were somewhat hopeful of winning beer this time; and after 15 minutes or so their optimism appeared well-founded as the Swans were in the ascendency, controlling the ball and territory, even though they were playing against a stiff breeze. Unfortunately, they were unable to turn their pressure into points as fierce Crossleyans defence on their line, together with the obligatory quota of unforced handling errors, denied them a score - still, it could only be a matter of time, surely?

And then in the space of a few minutes Selby’s chances, and supporters’ hopes, disintegrated as they self-imploded to hand Crossleyans three quick converted tries for a 21-0 lead. I’ll spare the grisly details here but each score was as a direct result of disastrous Swans decision-making and execution, and it is a worry that a collective lack of rugby nous and inability to dig in when the pressure comes on, means that Selby can often spiral to defeat in double quick time.

With Selby’s chances now gone and Crossleyans tails now firmly up the rest of the match was to be endured. To be fair, there wasn’t anywhere near the gulf in performance that the scoreline suggests and Selby were still getting plenty of ball - but, with their error count continuing to rise inexorably, their chances of actually scoring before they turned over possession were minimal. Crossleyans, by contrast, continued to play annoyingly competently, committing far few errors of their own, and their just rewards came in the form of another three well-taken tries, expertly converted in very difficult conditions by their imperious place-kicker. Selby did manage to avoid the whitewash at least with a late try to prop Duncan Hardy after some sterling forward work on the Crossleyans line - and one other bright note for the Swans was the debut of eighteen year old prop Max Wotton who, despite the difficult day, acquitted himself very well in tight and loose, and the beer race afterwards!

Selby must now regroup for what may turn out to be a vital home game against Keighley on Saturday, kick of 14:15.