Gary Calum Writes

The day started with a strong feeling of optimism. Following last weekends victory away to Ripon and the thought that past Selby vs Ionian fixtures have generally gone our way, teamed with a declared travelling Selby squad of 26, the optimism seemed well founded. The optimism diminished slightly watching the warmup; Selby looking low on numbers in the backs due to latecomers and no-shows, and Ionians displaying a powerful back-line both strong in stature and ball handling skills. The talk in the stands between Selby parents hinted that not many Ionian faces were recognised from past encounters, this was later confirmed that just 3 were U17 players, meaning Selby would face an Ionians team predominantly made up of U18 senior Colts.

KO came on the Ionians superb 1st team pitch, the weather was kind with the sun attempting to breakthrough at low-level which arguably hindered both parents watching and the travelling side playing and directly looking into it ! The game started with pace and intensity, with Ionians immediately showing their quality with ball in hand, in particularly from their backs. Selby seemed quiet, lacking vocals and displaying rather subdued body language and not matching the intensity of their opposition, and not looking like the squad who confidently squared up to Ripon last week. 2 Ionian tries came in quick succession. Thankfully their kicker wasn’t quite up to the task, 2 missed conversions which saved 4 points from going on the board and giving Selby a little hope that they could pull the 10 point deficit back. Frustratingly, what followed was a period of sustained offensive pressure from Ionians who seemed to break the gain line with every play. With a lack of defensive line speed by a few, and some clear missed tackles by others, meant that full back Sibley was called on multiple times to make a last-man try saving tackle. This was nothing short of brilliant, culminating in a ‘held up’ decision with Sibley +1 putting their bodies on the line to keep the opposition out. Continued pressure put Ionians over for their 3rd try. Again, thankfully unconverted but with the score at 15-0 it felt that Selby were still in the game. Selby seemed to settle a little and began to put a few forward phases together which, with hindsight, seemed to be a more affective approach, playing with ball in hand rather than trying to kick for territory. A Selby scrum on the oppositions 22, picked up and strong ground made by Number 8 Toye followed by an exquisite backhanded pass to Janus, with work still to do he powered through the Ionians defensive line - TRY and a sigh of relief from the whole Selby team, coaches and supporters! Difficult kick from the touch line, unfortunately not converted from Kealey but 15-5 and halftime, still game on !

2nd half came and, unfortunately, much of the same. Selby never seemed to get into their offensive stride and always on their defensive back foot, lacking possession and unable to regain it with clearing kicks often finding their way straight into the hands of the opposition in advantageous positions. A dogged defensive performance by most, with notable tackling shifts from Sibley, Faifield and Calam in the backs, and Todd, Kieran’s and Toye in the forwards. The 2nd half gave glimpses of some superb simple forward work, rolling phases in pods between most of the forwards often gained more meterage than a lot of the backs play. A flurry of Ionian tries pushed the score to 41-5 and the feeling was the game was lost but credit to the Selby squad, heads never went fully down and their doggedness continued. A Janus try, wonderfully converted by Kealey, and a feeling that some more Selby points would be added to the board before full time. A deep kick from Ionians, scooped up by Fairfield who flowed into a strong offensive run, ducking and dodging tackles looked hopeful for another Selby score but a turnover in favour of Ionians and then an excellent cross-field kick to the oppositions winger meant an undefendable reply and try, clapped by all in the stands as a stunning phase of play. A final piece of Selby offensive play saw Janus and Bugg passing back and forth within the oppositions 22, and with what looked to be a deliberate knock on by the Ionians winger brought the play to an end, overlooked as an infringement by the referee, game over - 46-1