YARNBURY 6

SELBY 10

DESPITE a dominant showing by Yarnbury's pack pressure could not be turned into points in this hard-fought league game.

Yarnbury scored first after electing to play into the strong wind with a penalty by Steve Lee. For the remainder of the half much of the game was centred in Yarnbury's half and resolute defence countered Selby's attempts to attack out wide.

Steve Miller revelled in the tight exchanges on his return to the second row and this seasoned campaigner provided a myriad of possession at the front of the line-out only for Yarnbury's back line to struggle to penetrate the defence.

An over ambitious pass in midfield led directly to Selby's try and ultimately cost Yarnbury the game.

A quick tap penalty was taken and Smith scooted over to score with Patterson converting and then adding a penalty to make the interval score 10-3 to Selby.

The Selby scrummage was under continuous pressure and a pushover try was thwarted by a collapsed scrum on the Selby line with No 8 Wayne Butterfield poised to score.

A second Lee penalty reduced the arrears and then John Bramham deprived his opposing winger of a certain try with a fantastic tackle in the corner.

Adrian Moule showed his versatility after a Selby penalty rebounded off the post and the quick thinking back row man executed a crossfield chip to Bramham who cleared to half way.

Yarnbury spent the remainder of the game in the Selby 22 unable to score the vital try against a well-organised defence.

Despite the disappointing result the positive aspects of the forward play gives renewed optimism for the trip to Ashington in two weeks.

Yarnbury B 16

Selby B 29

With the game moved to Lawnswood School it turned out to be an away fixture for both sides.

The pitch suited Selby's big forwards who were well orchestrated by their experienced stand-off who scored after just five minutes.

Steffan Patterson replied almost immediately with two successful penalties and then a mistake by the Selby full-back allowed Matthew Fowler to pounce on a loose ball which was quickly transferred to Paul Osbourne who crossed unopposed and Patterson converted.

On the stroke of half-time a sickening clash of heads between Osbourne and Neil Pennington resulted in the latter being carried from the pitch with worried team mates looking on.

The second-half saw Yarnbury battling hard but they were unable to contain the Selby forwards who started to take control and this resulted in Yarnbury giving away needless penalties which in the end handed the game to Selby.

This left Yarnbury with a few pointers on how to beat this very accomplished side in the return leg on hopefully a bigger pitch which will allow Yarnbury's backs to cut loose.

Selby Fourths 3

Yarnbury Fourths 32

Yarnbury Fourths got back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over an experienced side.

The Yarnbury pack took complete control of the first-half dominating in the loose and overwhelming the home pack in the tight and line-outs.

Prop Roger Everson opened the scoring with a clever blind side try followed by Steve Gairn, Dave Langley and Simon Watkins powering their way over.

The Yarnbury backs finally joined in when winger Mick Pound scored in the corner.

Fred Harrison converted one of the difficult kicks to put Yarnbury 27-3 up at half-time.

The second-half proved a non-event with the Selby pack using spoiling tactics to close the game down.

Centre Kev Wray provided the only highlight with a run and dummy to score wide out.

Yarnbury's superior all round game with strong defence again sealed a satisfactory win.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.