SELBY RUFC 43 - 10 SKIPTON RUFC
Selby RUFC Swans continue to fly high at the top of Yorkshire 2 pulling out a 6 point lead over nearest rivals West Leeds. With 7 wins from 7 games and more players becoming available things are looking very bright for the Sandhill Lane Club.

This week Selby RUFC played host to Skipton RUFC, a team that has in the past caused the host a number of problems but not this time.

Selby were first out of the blocks with Webster making good ground before the ball was shipped wide for Porter to score in the first minute of play. On the restart it was this time Blaymire that made the yards running the ball through a number of Skipton defenders before setting up Webster to score. With score now standing at 12 -0 to Selby within the first three minutes of play it looked as if the Selby lads were in for a good day at the office.

For the following15 mins both sides settled in for a tough battle, with Skipton working hard to secure ball and Selby continuing to play its brand of fast flowing rugby to the pleasure of the home crowd. Cruise was on form helping keep the Selby lads on the front foot and in their oppositions half, whilst Wood, Adamson & Blaymire all worked hard to keep Selby there.

The next try came at 22 mins following a well worked series of moves created space out wide for Cruise to deliver a ridiculously long pass for Porter to run the ball in. Selby continued to control the game, with well worked ball and good patterns of play and strong defence.

30mins passed before Skipton showed any threat and this was following a lot of hard graft from the Skipton pack who rumbled the ball up field into Selby’s 22 which remained their tactic for most of the game.

Selby’s 4th try and try of the match came at 41 mins when Saunders collected a fly hack ball in Selby’s 22, switch to Lunt who carried up field then ball exchanging hands between Porter, Webster and Cruise and finally for Greenfield to sprint in from 30 yards.

Three minutes latter Selby was on the score board again with a 5th try with Webster again making ground following the re start but it was Cruise this time crossing the white wash for his first try of the day.

Half time whistle blew with Selby 29 – 0 in the lead and there was no reason at this stage why the lead shouldn’t be increased in the second half.

The second half continued must as the first, with Skipton working hard in the tight and Selby looking to punish any and all opportunities. However, Selby started to fall foul of the referees whistle and for what ever reason errors started to creep in.

The score however kept coming with another well worked try that put Protheroe in a position to crash in from 20 yards and later Pocklington to do the same adding two more tries to Selby’s tally.

Heading towards the final 15 minutes Selby’s game started to loose some of its cohesion & fluidity, Skipton took full advantage of this and with a renewed effort battered their way through Selby’s defence for their first try.

Selby continued to be on the wrong end of the Referees whistle and Weller got the first yellow card, with Webster following with a second. With Selby down to 13 men Skipton pushed hard for the final 5 mins and secured their second try.

Final score Selby 43 – 10 Skipton.
Tries: Porter D (2), Webster A, Greenfield J, Cruise J, Protheroe M, Pocklington A
Conversions: Cruise J (4)