19.02.2008
Sunday 17th February.
Due to the a Yorkshire cup final being played at Selby this Sundays away fixture was changed and the North Yorkshire team travelled south to play at Castle Park. A heavy overnight frost cast doubt on the pitch being fit to play on, but after several inspections we got the go-ahead and play got under way in bright sunshine at 11:20.
With both teams having squads of 19 players it was decided to play 4 periods of 15 minutes. From early on the Selby team signalled their intent to use a strong looking set of back to run the ball wide, but handling errors and good tackling by Doncaster put a stop to that. With the Doncaster forwards having a distinct size advantage over the Selby pack they tried smash their way through the Selby defence which eventually paid off with a try for John Gibson which was converted by Stephen Dunn. Period 1, 7-0 to Doncaster.
The second period started well for Selby who kicked off and got a scrum on the Doncaster 22 for a knock on. But their luck didn’t last long; with Doncaster’s size advantage it wasn’t long before the ball was back in the home teams’ possession and the pressure was on Selby. There followed a spell of superb forward play with some well executed rucks and mauls which lead to a try for Edward Allen with Joe Barrass slotting over for the extra 2 points. After the restart things carried on where they left off for Doncaster whose forwards put tremendous pressure on the Selby defence who were eventually overwhelmed when Jack Varley crashed through to score the 2nd try of the period. Joe Barress kicked the extras and the 2nd period ended 14-0 to the home team.
Doncaster kicked off the third period to a Selby team who were determined get back into the game. The visitors started to win some ball and put together some good passing moves which put Doncaster under some pressure. Doncaster came close to scoring when John Gibson thought he was through to score his second try of the day but was held up on the line by some good defensive work from Selby. The 3rd period 0-0.
Selby switched their kick at the start of this period which caught the Doncaster defence out and led to Selby’s first try of the day which was duly converted by the no 10 with a kick that would have gone over the bar from the halfway line. The Selby team then at last showed the home team what they were capable of. With a display of passing rugby that had not been seen all day the visitors scored 2 more converted tries before Doncaster replied with a good individual effort from Bradley Farrell. Unfortunately Joe Barras missed the conversion. The Selby response was instant with a quick score from the winger and another good kick from the number 10. Doncaster hit back straight from the restart and after a short period of pressure Farrell broke through to touch down for a try that was disallowed for an illegal hand off. 4th period, Doncaster 5 – Selby 28. so having been entertained by some good rugby from both teams Selby went home as winners by 28 points to 26.
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