Sport A game of two halves
Selby U15s 24
Goole U15s 12
Goole resumed their season after the Christmas break with what is always a difficult trip to local rivals Selby, writes Jeff Binnington.
Excuse the cliché, but on a very blustery day, with the wind blowing straight down the pitch, it was always going to be a game of two halves, and it was going to depend on who took most benefit from the elements.
Selby chose to play with the wind at their backs in the first half, which meant Goole's defence had to be on the ball from the kick off.
Not surprisingly, the hosts kept Goole pinned down in their own half from the kick off, and any attempted kicks to get down field were struggling to make touch.
However, just when Goole appeared to have weathered the storm, a loose pass behind Moore created panic in the defence; a number of attempted recoveries failed and Selby were able to drop on the ball over the line, under the posts for a simple seven points.
From the kick off Goole were back in their own half when another attempted clearance failed to find touch and Selby's speedy backs were able to run the ball straight back for a try in the corner. Within a matter of minutes Goole found themselves 12-0 down and this quickly became 19-0 when poor handling in Goole's backs allowed Selby to re-cycle the ball. Excellent handling by their opposite numbers saw Selby score another good long-range try just before half-time.
Goole came out in the second half with the wind in their favour and were determined to give a better account of themselves. They began to keep the ball closer in the forwards where they had competed well in the first half and this began to have an impact immediately as they drove Selby back into their own half with good runs from Thornhill, Lamb and Cunningham.
The visitors forced Selby into a scrum ten metres out and following a good heel by Law the ball came to scrum-half Betteridge, who picked up, dummied the back row and then scrambled over for a well-deserved try.
Moore, unfortunately, hit the post with the conversion.
Goole were now competing well up front and were spending more time in the Selby half but good defence from the home side kept them at bay.
Against the run of play Selby scored what would be their only score of the second half following a harsh penalty on Betteridge, who clearly robbed his opposite number of the ball legally, only for the referee to decide otherwise.
A quick tap from Selby saw the ball moved left then right, stretching Goole's defence before they scored in the corner. Goole had the final say when Betteridge was on hand again to break through the home defence for a great individual score under the posts, converted by Binns.
With Goole camped on the Selby line again and a score looking odds-on, the referee blew his whistle for full time.
Although another defeat to their local rivals, Goole can take heart from their second-half performance, which they took 12-5 on the score board. The forwards took them on up front and the backs, although outplayed, never gave up and showed some good touches at times. Good performances from Betteridge, Stevens and Richard Binns in the backs. With Lamb, Thornhill, and Newsome showing well in the forwards. However, James Cunningham took the Man of the Match award for his tireless work in defence.
Published on 17th January 2008 in Sport.
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