The cup victory last week was very welcome, but it came at a cost, some knocks picked up during the game had not healed, and with a bout of illness going round the schools only 10 players were fit and able to make the trip to Bradford and Bingley this week.

Whilst low in numbers the boys made up for it with heart and commitment for the shortened game of two 30 minute halves (with a short break at the 15 minute marks of each) giving the hosts squad of 14 players plenty to think about.

Due to the smaller numbers the pitch, whilst played using full length was tightened by 5 meters on each side but there was still lots of space to find and exploit as play kicked off.

It was Selby that scored first, with Alex finishing off a series of forward drives to score after 2 minutes and with Joe kicking the conversion, Selby led 0-7.

The lead did not last long as a charged down Selby defensive kick was seized upon by the hosts forwards and they replied with a try and conversion to level the scores 2 minutes later.

Selby controlled most of the game following the restart and it was no surprise the visitors scored next, drives by Euan and Batsi on 13 minutes took the lads deep into the hosts 22 and a release of the back line saw Joe give a delayed pass to Elliot to power over to give Selby the lead once again 7-12.

Bradford came back again and levelled four minutes later to make the score 12-12 but it was Selby that finished the half the stronger.

Billy has the creator of the next two tries, the first on 23 minutes, a downfield kick that turned defence into attack and speedster Dan was first to reach the bouncing ball to score, and the second on 27 minutes when he created an overlap with Dylan at a ruck and allow Dan to touch down for a second time and give Selby a deserved lead at half time. 12-22.

The sheer numbers of the home team allowed them to rotate in the second half, and whilst the boys kept going with heroic tackling by all the team, noticeably by Lawrence, leading from his new position of prop forward, the hosts cleverly moved the ball to create space and scored 3 converted tries on 32, 36 and 49 minutes to lead 33-22.

Selby continued to give it their all and on the final whistle, Zac drove the ball to within a metre of the line and his second row partner Alex was on hand to take the ball the remaining distance and score his second, and the final try with the last play of the game, Joe finished off a battling display with the conversion to make the final score 33-29.

Words can’t do enough justice to the battling 10 today, they were all gladiators, outnumbered but not outfought, they should all hold their heads high.

Dinnington next week, and add another 5 players to the efforts of the lads today and the future looks bright!