Moortown RUFC 10 – 21 Selby RUFC

Selby RUFC travelled to Moortown on Saturday to participate in a scrappy stop start game not readily recognised by the travelling supporters as Rugby as they know it. The game was plagued with vague and inconsistent decision making, an extraordinary high penalty count and time delays throughout, and it was only Moortown that benefited from this.

There was little doubt that Selby would come away with a win from this game the only question was by how many points, and for Moortown by what point’s deficit. Moortown never really looked threatening and it was only the erratic nature of the game that kept them in contention and Selby from racking up a big score.

The game started with Selby conceding 5 penalties in as many minutes one of which gave Moortown an early 3 point lead but that was how the score stood for the home side right up until the final minutes of the game. Greenfield was the first of Selby’s players to get yellow carded after only 8 minutes of the game for a first offence but the Selby lads were more than able to keep up the pressure in both defence and attack even with one man down. Selby went into a 9 points to 3 lead by the 25th minute, courtesy of 3 well struck penalties by number 10 Cruise.
Selby’s first try came after 33 minutes following a ruck and a short carry by Protheroe who off-loaded to Porter before Robinson sent Saunders clear to sprint 30 yards to cross in the corner.

Both sides struggled to understand or satisfy the referee’s needs and a massive tally of 29 penalties were awarded during the game with Selby conceding 16 of them.

Blaymire was the next Selby player to get yellow carded in the 37th minute following a tackle by Protheroe that looked like it might turn the tackled player over horizontally with Blaymire stepping in to prevent but he was adjudged to have been a high tackler.

Selby often found themselves on the wrong end of the referee’s decisions particularly around the more technical areas of the game which had the effect of slowing the game down. This suited Moortown’s crash ball game but this was never going to give Selby any problem and with Brown (Man of the Match) Wood, Pocklington & Hardy all grafting around the tight and where ball was there to be won.

Selby showed good aggression in the tight, loose and tackle zone allowing quick ball particularly at the breakdown and most of the first half was played in the home sides’ territory. Half time finished with the score at 14 – 3 in Selby’s favour.

There was hope that the second half would bring a different emphasis to the game but it didn’t and the game was played stop start for a further 40 minutes. Selby’s second try came on 71 minutes when Cruise passed an inside ball to the hard running Adamson who gave a beautifully weighted off load to Protheroe who raced to the line and score under the posts to give Cruise an easy conversion.

The game was relatively uneventful apart from all the wrong reasons and the final score of Moortown 10 – 21 Selby, flattered the hosts. Moortown never looked in danger of scoring, unlike Selby, until the final minutes when Moortown got a penalty under the posts when tackler Cruise was adjudged to have been off side - Moortown took a quick tap for Maycock to score the try with Wilkinson converting and for the referee to bring an end to the contest.