Match Reports – 1st & 2nd March 2025

Within two minutes a superb individual try Lewis Talbot set the crowd alight. Selby cleared their lines, and the ball went straight to Josh Lugsden whose vision sent a long pass out to Talbot. The young star caught the ball on the halfway line, and he just outpaced all the defence and ran around to score near the posts. Ethan Taylor converted, and it was 7-0.

Selby managed twice to get into the home 22 courtesy of Scunthorpe penalties however pressure on the lineout from the defence repelled the attacks. Then came a unfortunate situation when Jack Murr was issued with a red card. Jack’s tackle technique is usually exemplary but on this occasion through a momentary lack of concentration, and certainly no malice, he ended up tip tackling his opponent who somersaulted through the air. It looked a lot worse than it was and the opposition made a meal of it nonetheless it was a straight red. Selby sent the penalty to the 5m but once again their lineout went south again through excellent Scunthorpe defence. Unfortunately, after 23 min a try came for Selby from another penalty Selby camped in the Green’s 22 moved the ball left and right until eventually, they found an overlap and flanker Vea strolled over, flyhalf Henry Wright converted. 7-7.

Then on the half hour the second disaster occurred when the promising young flanker Elliot Saltmarsh sustained a broken leg at a lineout. Whilst Tim Robinson had an equally able replacement in Marcus Payne this incident really knocked the stuffing out of Scunthorpe. The home side rallied and came back at Selby with textbook try from Matty Mason. Selby were on the attack from their own scrum, but they fumbled in the centre, Scunthorpe kicked it through and chased it down. Selby gave away a penalty and the forwards went straight to the ‘Bridlington’ and Mason rumbled over just to the right of the posts; Ethan Taylor converted Scunthorpe 14 Selby 7. The Greens then gave away a soft penalty at a ruck that was messy and out of control, the referee deemed a side entry and Henry Wright slotted over the penalty 14-10.

Scunthorpe had a chance to come back from a lineout 18m out, the ball went wide but the move petered out as the ball was drifted into touch. Half time Scunthorpe were just in front at 14-10. In recent matches Scunthorpe have come back stronger in the second half and hopefully they could repeat this tactic and seal this much needed victory.

Unfortunately, the heads went down as Selby’s top try scorer Adam Infante scored in the corner. The try stemmed from a turnover in midfield. From the Scunthorpe line out Laurence Pearce powered on ably assisted by Grant Elliot but from the next contact Selby contested the ruck and turned the ball over. It went wide on the left and they had a two man overlap allowing Infante to score the try in the corner. Wright converted and Selby went in front for the first time at 14-17.

Scunthorpe were still in the game and their 7 forwards put their 8 oppos to the sword at scrum and line out. This was typified as Selby had a line out in the Green 22 and it was again disrupted, danger over. The home side had several penalties, but they just could not finesse and failed to convert any of them into points. A classic example of this was with a penalty in front of the posts and they elected to go for scrum instead of taking the certain 3 points. The ball was moved wide but it fizzled out as the ball was knocked on. Four minutes later another fumble saw Selby foot rush until they reached the 5m line and were awarded a scrum. Scunthorpe stole a ball at the ruck but unfortunately Ethan Taylor’s kick was charged down, there should’ve been a penalty to Scunthorpe, but the referee did not see it that way and Selby went on to score a converted try from prop Wotton, Wright converted, and it was looking very ominous at 14-24.

Scunthorpe were really under the cosh and feeling the pressure but managed to stick together and they pummelled the Selby 22. They were rewarded with a penalty, from the quick tap Selby tackled within the 10 metres so the ref moved it on another 10 and gave the Selby player 10 minutes in the bin. This time logic purveyed, and Ethan Taylor slotted it over to put his side within one converted try at 17-24.

Scunthorpe could smell blood, and they ran the length of the field but were held up just short. Selby’s defence were creaking, and you could feel the tension around the ground as the Greens tried to eek out a result. Another catch and drive line out saw the pack race away but they the referee claimed the player had detached to form the ‘truck and trailer’ so a certain score was denied and the scrum went to Selby. Yet another chance had gone begging. In the last minute of the game good approach play from Jordan Beresford allowed James Dyson to scuttle through the whole of the pack score under the post. Ethan Taylor converted bringing the score level at 24-24.

At this juncture Scunthorpe would have been content with a draw which they would have thoroughly deserved. However, it wasn’t to be as the man in the middle with the whistle seemed to play excessive overtime. Then the unthinkable happened as Scunthorpe secured the ball and just needed to get it into touch to seal the draw but once again the referee had a big part to play in this game.  He penalised the home side for holding on at the ruck in a reasonably easy position for the Selby kicker. The home supporters were hoping for a ‘Fin Russell’ moment. Wright struck the ball, and it appeared to be drifting past the right-hand post but to the delight of the away supporters the ball faded left, struck the post and went through to seal the victory for the North Yorkshire outfit.

Scunthorpe battled valiantly with man of the match and No8 Ben Hyde immense, as were his fellow forwards in both attack and defence. This game hinged on two or three crucial moments/decisions which just didn’t go Scunthorpe’s way.

Scunthorpe are still at the top of the league table with a three-point lead with all to play for as the last three games of the season approach. Next week sees the Greens travel to York in what will be a very tough encounter. After a run of five consecutive games the coaches will be hoping to regroup and carry on with their excellent away form to eke out a result at York.

Match Report written by Steve Williams

MOM – Ben Hyde

Photos – Paul McDonald