NORTHERN DIVISION YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 1.
DONCASTER PHOENIX RUFC 13 – 12 SELBY RUFC

Referee – Mr. John Eyre – Central Yorkshire Society

Selby tasted defeat for the first time since 17 November 2012 when they travelled to the Keepmoat Athletics Stadium to take on last season’s Yorkshire League Division 2 runners-up. Selby’s last defeat was also at the hands of Phoenix when they lost by 35 points to 27 at Sandhill Lane. In a tight encounter, Selby went into the break 6 points to nil down after a dour and disjointed half – Selby improved after the break but never quite got their noses in front, losing by the narrowest of margins 13 points to 12.

Martin Protheroe, back from holiday, came into the side at number 8 with Matthew Wood switching to the second row. Sam Weller was also back after injury at centre with Alex Arthur starting on the wing in place of Ben Lunt who started on the bench with Mark Tanner and Brendan Lanaghan – his first involvement with the 1st XV this season.

Despite being up against a massive Phoenix pack, it was the Selby forwards who were disrupting the scrum from the outset but it was Phoenix who took the lead after only 2 minutes when Selby were penalised for offside, the ever reliable fly half Dan Storey converting the penalty but he was off target 8 minutes later when Selby were penalised for coming in at the side. Thereafter Selby applied some promising pressure but were unable to crack a solid Phoenix defence. Selby were again caught offside after 21 minutes – Dan Storey made no mistake this time to give Phoenix a 6 points to nil advantage. A 52 metre penalty awarded against Phoenix fell just short from the boot of Selby fly half Josh Cruise after 26 minutes before Brendan Lanaghan replaced Protheroe. As half time approached it was Selby who had to do the defending and after being penalised with free kicks on 2 occasions for pushing before the ball went into the scrum, Charlton McCoy made a great try-saving tackle to prevent Phoenix going into the break with a bigger lead than the 6 points to nil advantage they already held – a lead they probably just about deserved after a half which can only be described as uninspiring.

Selby started the second half the brighter and had the chance to reduce their arrears after 44 minutes after Phoenix were penalised for not rolling away – Cruise’s penalty hit the top of the right hand upright and appeared to fall between the posts but despite one touch judge awarding the penalty, the referee disallowed it – this was a problem for players, touch judges and the referee all afternoon with significantly shorter uprights than is the norm. However Selby did reduce their arrears after 55 minutes when centre Sam Weller crashed over after a long period of Selby pressure – Cruise failed with the conversion but Selby were back in it at only 6 points to 5 down. Disaster then struck 3 minutes later when Selby were running the ball out of defence – a long miss-pass went astray and was fielded by the Phoenix centre Ben Miller who strode over for the try – Storey kicked an excellent conversion to give his side a 13 points to 5 lead. Mark Tanner replaced Tom Bell at prop after 63 minutes with Selby then making a double substitution 4 minutes later, Ben Lunt replacing Charlton McCoy and Martin Protheroe replacing young Alex Oliver. Phoenix threatened to extend their lead with another penalty after 71 minutes but despite the touch judges and most of the supporters thinking the kick was good, once again, the referee disallowed the penalty. Five minutes later Phoenix were penalised in front of their posts but inexplicably, instead of kicking the easy penalty, which may have given Selby a losing bonus point, they chose to run the ball which came to naught. Selby were not finished however, and scored a marvellous try in the penultimate minute running the ball out of defence, a move started by full back Dan Porter, continued by at least another 4 players and finished off in tremendous style by flanker Rihi Brown – Cruise converted to pull Selby back to within a point of Phoenix. Another 7 minutes of added on time saw Selby having to defend in numbers but there was no further score and Selby had to be satisfied with a losing bonus point in a game dominated by rock solid defences.

Next Saturday, Selby have a tough League fixture when they entertain one of the early pace-setters in Yorkshire 1, Wath Upon Dearne at Sandhill Lane, and kick off at 1500 hours.