Selby u13s v Hill House School Doncaster

A cold grey evening at Sandhill Lane on Thursday 27th April, saw Selby under 13s play their first competitive match in over 400 days.

The 2020 season so cruelly abandoned by the Corona Virus in March 2020, had seen the Selby under 12s end on a high after an excellent tour in Manchester and one last match against Thorne and Doncaster, which they had also won, playing with particular grit and skill.

Then that was it, lock down. Months and months of nothing, except the wearing out of lawns, WhatsApp chats and a virtual Presentation Evening.

Then after what seemed like an eternity, training resumed in early August 2020 and for a time the boys were able to play against each other under stringent guidelines. Fair play to the coaches who did their very best to make it interesting, when there was no tackling, no scrums, no rucks and worst of all no matches. It was never boring and week in week out the dedicated boys turned up to train.

What they did build on in this last year was teamwork, passing skills and fitness. Some have gained confidence in their running and try scoring ability and as a team they have gained a closeness that was maybe missing before.

So 400 plus days later and at last a competitive match. The squad and coaches were high hopeful of Selby being every bit as good at they had been on the pitch against 13 opposing (and different) rugby players.

They proved themselves right, albeit a little bit rusty, they proceeded to dominate Hill House in all aspects of play. There was a rake of tries, some fantastic tackling and some streamlined passing. Which resulted in an tight but definite win for Selby.

Special mentions are for Toby Taperell and Raul North as strong forwards securing the ball and taking it onto the opposition and making up much needed ground. Benjamin Tosney who played three different positions yet managed to excel in all of them and scoring a pretty nifty try too. Captain Connor Dale, for basically being Captain Connor Dale, and Will Kavanagh for his evasive skill on the wing.

Man of the Match was the unassuming and reliable Benjamin Cockeram who was involved in nearly every piece of play, who gets on with the job at hand and who is never down-cast.

So that's it we are back to it after a year of panic, uncertainty and new regulations. As frozen handed Selby parents celebrated this small victory with their rosy cheeked youngsters and as plucky Hill House pupils got back on their bus on this grey and cold evening.

But there is light, light at the end of the tunnel and a win over this dreadful restrictive virus that has changed our lives, sporting or otherwise, so much. Let's hope as progress is made in 2021 and vaccines are given out, we can get back to competitive play and Covid-19 can really be kicked into touch.