NORTHERN DIVISION YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 1.
DINNINGTON RUFC 31 – 27 SELBY RUFC

Referee – Mr. Mike Ramsden – North Yorkshire & Cleveland Society

Selby’s prospects looked decidedly bleak during the first quarter of this match with the Dinnington forwards dominating play with Selby in arrears by 8 points to nil after only 9 minutes, Selby’s only first half reward being a penalty after 19 minutes. Dinnington went into the break with a 13 points to 3 advantage. Despite falling behind by 25 points to 6 by the 52nd minute in a second half which Selby largely dominated, to their credit, Selby pulled the score back to 27 points to 28 by the 71st minute. A drop goal by Dinnington gave them a 4 point cushion which proved enough to hang on to a bonus point win by 31 points to 27.

Selby stuck largely by the side which had beaten Bridlington by 50 points to 14 the previous Saturday, the only change being the inclusion of Dominic Bosher in the back row in place of Duncan Phillips who joined Ben Booth and the fit again Alex Arthur on the bench.

Dinnington kicked off with the advantage of the strong breeze and the slight slope of the pitch with Selby having to do all the early defending and took the lead with a Jonny West penalty after only 4 minutes. Further pressure from the Dinnington forwards was rewarded with an unconverted try by flanker Danny Pilkington 5 minutes later. Selby’s first foray into Dinnington territory should have been rewarded with a try after an excellent break by Porter allowed the rest of the backs, and in particular Ben Lunt & Alex Hare, to put centre Teihana Brown over the line for what should have been a simple try but hesitation in grounding the ball allowed 3 Dinnington defenders to successfully hold him up over the line. However, the resultant pressure from this phase of play saw Dinnington penalised for ‘holding on’ with Dan Porter kicking the straightforward penalty. Dinnington went further in front after 33 minutes with a try, once again unconverted, by their excellent number 8 Will Marshall, to give Dinnington a 13 points to 3 advantage. Selby hooker Sam Cruise had to leave the field 3 minutes later to be replaced by Duncan Phillips but there were no further alarms for Selby before the half time break.

Sam Cruise returned in place of Duncan Phillips at the start of the second half with Selby now playing with the advantage of the elements and pressurising the Dinnington defence – a Dan Porter penalty in the very first minute hit the upright with Selby following up and Dinnington knocking on under pressure – turnover ball momentarily relieved the pressure for Dinnington but they were almost immediately caught offside with Porter kicking the penalty after 43 minutes. With Ben Booth replacing Tom Bell and Alex Arthur on for Iain Adamson after 47 minutes, Selby were rocked back on their heels after South African full back Neceedo Pietersen scored a brace of excellent tries in the space of 4 minutes, both from deep inside the Dinnington half and both from turnover ball – with Jonny West converting the first of these from the touch line, Dinnington now had a seemingly comfortable 25 points to 6 advantage but Selby had other ideas with Martin Protheroe replying with a try for Selby after 55 minutes – a difficult conversion from Porter sailed through the posts to reduce Selby’s arrears to 13 points to 25. All the pressure was coming from Selby now, so much so that ex National League props Simon Bunting and John Dudley, who had joined the fray at the start of the second half for Dinnington, were both yellow carded in the space of 2 minutes with Selby taking full advantage, Dan Porter going over for his 13th try of the season – a successful conversion brought Selby back to within 5 points of Dinnington. However, a rare foray into Selby territory saw Dinnington’s Jonny West extend their lead to 28 points to 20 with a penalty kick after 68 minutes. Three minutes later Selby were right back in it with another excellent try from winger Alex Hare after some intricate handling by the backs – another successful conversion from Porter brought Selby to within a point of Dinnington. With Bunting back on after his yellow card, more Dinnington pressure, albeit brief, saw Jonny West successfully drop a goal after 73 minutes which meant that Selby would have to score a try to claim the win. Dinnington were back to full strength now with the return of John Dudley but it was still Selby who were creating all the pressure – a lengthy stoppage saw second row Brendan Lanaghan replaced by Duncan Phillips after 75 minutes. In the gathering gloom, it was difficult to make out what was happening on the pitch but all the play was in the Dinnington half – with the referee having signalled the last play of the game, Selby held on to possession but phase after phase failed to crack the Dinnington defence until the inevitable mistake signalled the end of the game – a game which, had it gone on for much longer, Selby probably could have won. Selby take a losing bonus point from the game and retain their 8th place in Yorkshire 1.

Overall, this was a very good performance by Selby, against probably one of the strongest forward line-ups in Yorkshire 1. Selby competed well in the set piece but the experienced Dinnington forwards probably edged the contest in the loose. Without doubt, and in hindsight, the game was probably lost in the 4 minute period in the second half when Selby conceded 2 tries, both against the run of play, but both excellent tries from Dinnington’s South African fullback Neceedo Pietersen.

Next Saturday, Selby host Doncaster Phoenix in their last League game of 2013 – Kick Off 2.15 P.M. It would be nice to finish the year with a win against the current League leaders who Selby lost to in the away fixture by 13 points to 12.