NORTHERN DIVISION YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION 1.
HEATH RUFC 10 – 25 SELBY RUFC

Referee – Mr. Mark Pinder – Central Yorkshire Society

Selby continued their fine run of form at Heath on Saturday but were not quite as convincing as they have been in recent weeks against a side that showed excellent ball retention skills and had far more possession from the set-piece – they also had the rub of the green in the penalty count conceding just 5 to Selby’s 12. However Selby still had too much for a young and promising Heath side and went into the break with a 15 points to 10 advantage. A successful penalty and a converted try to Selby in the third quarter concluded the scoring with Selby running out deserved winners by 25 points to 10.

Mark Tanner at hooker and Sam Weller at centre came into the side in place of the injured Sam Cruise and Alex Arthur with the returning Andrew Pocklington and Charlton McCoy joining Jacob Robinson on the bench.

Selby found themselves under pressure straight from the Heath kick off after the ball was knocked-on. The ensuing pressure from the Heath forwards caught Selby offside in front of the posts with fly half Ezra Hinchliffe kicking the penalty for a 3 points to nil lead after only 2 minutes for the hosts. Selby, running the ball at every opportunity, took the lead 6 minutes later after wonderful support play from their man of the match, flanker Rihi Brown, enabled second row forward Thomas Cobley to thunder over near the posts for his second try for the Club in consecutive weeks – Josh Cruise kicked the conversion for a 7 points to 3 advantage to Selby. Heath went back in front on 14 minutes after some significant pressure saw them held up over the Selby try line – Heath won their 5 metre scrum and after another 3 phases of play, their number 8, Hamish Pratt, was credited with the try under the posts for Hinchliffe to convert giving Heath a 10 points to 7 lead. Selby now started to dominate proceedings with their backs making some impressive progress down the right flank and went back into the lead after a successful line-out saw the ball spread wide for Josh Cruise to offload to centre Teihana Brown who touched down near the corner flag after 18 minutes – the difficult conversion fell short but Selby were back in front by 12 points to 10. Only 2 minutes later, Selby were nearly made to pay when a kick out of defence was charged down but Heath failed to capitalise after Selby turned over possession and cleared to touch. Some excellent back play from Ben Lunt and Alex Hare after 24 minutes looked to have put flanker Dominic Bosher in for the try but he was caught 5 metres short of the Heath try-line. Selby did increase their lead on 28 minutes after Heath were penalised for not rolling away – Josh Cruise kicked the 33 metre penalty to put Selby in front by 15 points to 10. Three minutes later, Selby should have gone further in front but a failure to touch the ball down over the try line cost them the opportunity. After all the pressure Selby had exerted in the second quarter, the half ended with Heath pressurising the Selby defence – Selby will have been disappointed not to have gone into the break with a much more substantial advantage than the 15 points to 10 lead they held.

Two minutes into the second half Selby made their first change with Jacob Robinson replacing Martin Protheroe and increased their lead to 18 points to 10 after Heath were caught offside with Josh Cruise kicking the penalty after 46 minutes. Selby’s second change saw Tom Bell replaced by Andrew Pocklington after 49 minutes. It was still Selby who were doing most of the attacking and they increased their lead on 55 minutes with a superb interception try under the posts by fly half Dan Porter from the half way line – Cruise obliged with the conversion to give Selby a more comfortable 25 points to 10 lead. Selby made 3 more substitutions with Tom Bell back on for skipper Duncan Hardy after 64 minutes, Martin Protheroe replacing Thomas Cobley after 71 minutes and Charlton McCoy on for Alex Hare after 75 minutes. but final quarter of the game saw Heath start to dominate proceedings and looking to score tries on a couple of occasions, but mistakes at crucial times and adequate defending by Selby ensured that they failed to turn their pressure into points – Selby’s best spell of pressure in the last quarter came at the very end of the half when they were striving to score their fourth and bonus point try but it was not to be with their best chance disappearing when the final pass to the wing disappeared into touch. Heath always provide tough opposition and this match was no different and it’s always an achievement to win there – Selby were glad of the win despite their failure to collect a bonus point in their 25 points to 10 victory.

This win takes Selby up to 4th place in Yorkshire 1. Next week sees the visit to Sandhill Lane of the current League leaders, Ilkley Kick Off 2.15 P.M. and will provide a severe test of Selby’s credentials.