SELBY RUFC 6 – 15 YORK RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

A game of “ifs” and “maybes” played on a bitterly cold afternoon in front of a large crowd eventually saw local rivals York return home with bragging rights and an important victory in Selby's latest Yorkshire Division 1 fixture.

A typically attritional first 40 minutes saw very few try scoring opportunities and, with both kickers failing to accurately gauge the difficult conditions, the only score of the first half was a penalty kick in favour of the visitors who held the slenderest of leads at 3-nil going into the second half. York had opportunities to open their account after 10 minutes when Selby were penalised for coming in from the side and again after 12 minutes when York's full back George Davies failed to make Selby pay for an obstruction caused by 2 of their attacking runners “crossing”. Eventually Davies did succeed in hitting the target after 32 minutes when Selby conceded a further penalty for “not rolling away” as the York forwards made inroads into the Selby 22.

Selby's first attempt at goal was awarded against the visitors in the 28th minute for holding on in the tackle but full back Josh Cruise was unable to find his range. The best chance Selby had of scoring a try came towards the end of the half when a decisive break by Duncan Hardy drove his team beyond the York 10 metre line and when Ben Lunt switched direction he forced play back into the visitors 22. Looking around for support Lunt tried to keep the move going but his pass was gathered by the retreating York number 8 Marcus Britland who was subsequently penalised and yellow carded for ungentlemanly conduct having called for the pass as Lunt hit the tackle. Unfortunately for the home side, Cruise was unable to make Britland pay for his cynical foul play but at just 3 points down and with the elements in their favour, Selby's faithful following were confident that their side could overturn the half time deficit.

Despite their one man advantage, Selby were unable to capitalise and Britland's return after 46 minutes marked a spell of ascendency for the visiting forwards who subsequently stole three scrummage put-ins against the head to deny Selby the possession they needed to achieve any territorial advantage. After 58 minutes York scored what was to prove a decisive try as their forwards drove into the Selby 22. When the ball was then moved wide quickly, centre Eddy Bradshaw was given a clear run to the corner despite many justified calls for a forward pass. The conversion was unsuccessful but in such a tight game a 2 score advantage was always likely to be difficult to claw back.

Selby clearly had other ideas and reduced the deficit almost immediately when an offside decision in midfield presented Cruise with the chance to open his side's account. Having withstood another forward onslaught the home side then caught York on the hop when some impressive handling and support play saw them breaking out from their own 22. The only way York were able to stop the surge was by conceding another penalty in front of their posts and after 69 minutes Cruise had succeeded in narrowing the gap to just 2 points.

The last 10 minutes appeared to suggest that Selby had the desire and energy to steal the victory but disappointment quickly turned to disaster as the home side went all out for the win. Selby seemed to have created a certain run in for a try after 74 minutes, but a two man overlap was spurned and possession was subsequently lost at the breakdown, allowing the visitors to clear their lines and breathe a massive sigh of relief. That error was compounded with just a minute of normal time remaining when Selby were awarded a penalty on their own 22 with chance to clear down-field and take advantage of a Line-out put in. A quickly taken tap penalty hoped to catch the York defence unawares, but a couple of badly judged passes resulted in the ball being spilled, presenting York with the opportunity to hack the ball through the Selby defence. Winger Sam Arkle was first to react to the situation, gleefully collecting the ball to dive under the sticks and so present Davies with the simplest of conversions which not only sealed the victory but robbed Selby of a losing bonus point, the worst possible outcome from a game which they know they could have and probably should have won.