NORTHERN DIVISION - YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 1.
SELBY RUFC 50 – 14 BRIDLINGTON RUFC

Referee – Mr. Nigel Dickinson – West Yorkshire Society

Severely depleted by injury and unavailability and with a poor record in games against Bridlington, this match, on paper at least, was always going to be a real test for Selby, who had few options left in terms of selection. As it was, in a game that had just about everything, Selby survived Bridlington’s best spell in the first quarter and went into the break with a handy 26 points to 14 after trailing by 14 points to 12 after 20 minutes. After early Bridlington pressure in the second half, Selby eventually ran away with the game recording their highest League win of the season by 50 points to 14 and scoring 8 tries in the process.

With Josh Cruise still out with injury, Dan Porter once again started at fly half and, in the absence of Duncan Hardy, captained the side. With Tom Bell a late withdrawal through injury, Mark Tanner started at prop with Hardy joining Ben Booth and Stephen Clark on the bench. Selby welcomed back into the starting XV Teihana and Rihi Brown who had been on a short sabbatical to the tropics – Charlton McCoy also returned to the side in the absence of the injured Alex Arthur. Despite Selby’s injury problems, the backs had a look of class with the very skilful and able Iain Adamson once again starting at centre

Selby were immediately under pressure from the Bridlington kick off after knocking on but a scrum offence by Bridlington gave Selby a relieving penalty. However, after 5 minutes Bridlington did have the opportunity to take the lead but Kiwi fly half Lee Terewi missed the very kickable opportunity. Four minutes later Bridlington did go in front after centre Regan Stirk sprinted through a non-existent Selby defence for the try – Terewi made no mistake this time to give Bridlington a 7 points to nil lead. Two minutes later Selby were on the scoreboard after an Alex Hare charge-down put Selby on the attack with winger Charlton McCoy nearly to the try line but with a foot in touch – the line-out never took place as the referee had spotted that Bridlington were offside – a quick tap from Selby saw the ball spread wide for full back Ben Lunt, on the overlap, to touch down wide out – no conversion but Selby were in front after 16 minutes with a move out of defence started by Charlton McCoy who gave Porter the opportunity to make a wonderful break before releasing winger Alex Hare for the try – Porter converted to put Selby in front by 12 points to 7. This lead was short-lived, however, with Regan Stirk once more proving a real handful for some questionable defensive tackling, and going over for his second try near the posts – Terewi converted to give Bridlington the lead at 14 points to 12. Only 2 minutes later, Selby were back in front after winger Alex Hare was nearly over in the corner but was caught and knocked on – Bridlington were penalised at the resultant scrum for pushing too soon – a quick tap saw a forceful surge over the line by number 8 Martin Protheroe with Porter kicking the extras and Selby back in front at 19 points to 14. A missed penalty by Porter after 37 minutes for a high tackle was the prelude to as good a try as one is ever likely to see – it came in the second minute of added on time with Charlton McCoy starting the move deep in defence on the left touchline – the ball went through lots of hands to the opposite touchline where it was offloaded to winger Alex Hare who beat one defender on the touchline before cutting inside and beating 3 others before touching down under the posts for the bonus point try and an easy Dan Porter conversion giving Selby a half time lead of 26 points to 14 in a half that would have made uncomfortable watching for any purist rugby defensive coach.

Although Bridlington threatened at the start of the second half, it was Selby who went further in front after 50 minutes when Porter chipped through the Bridlington defence to force a 5 metre scrum to Selby – the ball was won and offloaded to Stephen Clark (a half time replacement for Ben Lunt) who went over for an unconverted try. A feature of the second half was the excellent kicking by Porter, whether to touch, over or through the Bridlington defence – this seemed to rub off on Stephen Clark who was unlucky not to re-gather after an excellent kick over the defence. With Ben Booth on for Rihi Brown after 58 minutes, Selby increased their lead after another chip over the Bridlington defence, this time by Alex Hare – the ball bounced kindly for Hare to gather and touch down under the posts for his hat-trick of tries – Porter added the extras to put Selby in front by 38 points to 14. Only 4 minutes later, Selby added to their tally after second row Brendan Lanaghan caught in the loose before selling an outrageous dummy and feeding Dan Porter who scored another of his trademark tries but failed with the conversion. After defending stoutly against some late intensive pressure from the Bridlington forwards, Selby’s Rihi Brown was back on for Lanaghan after 80 minutes with Dan Porter still finding the time make a break from deep within the Selby half before kicking over the Bridlington defence, re-gathering and touching down under the posts and give himself an easy conversion and a personal tally of 20 points from the match and Selby a 50 points to 14 win.

This win says something about the strength in depth of the Selby squad – with no more selection options available and despite facing a Bridlington side who themselves are struggling at the moment, a 50 points to 14 win is an excellent result against anyone in any circumstances – Selby now occupy 8th place in Yorkshire 1 having overtaken North Ribblesdale.

Next week Selby travel to face a difficult test against high-flyers Dinnington before taking on Doncaster Phoenix at Sandhill Lane on Saturday 14 December in a match that will be sponsored by the Muffits for the Joe Darcy Memorial Luncheon.