Bees Under 15’s reach Plate semi-final

Loose passes and fumbles were the order of the first few minutes of this Yorkshire Plate encounter, with a place in the semi-finals at stake. The Bees, however, were the quicker to settle as they started to make inroads into the Selby half. The forwards were beginning to dominate the loose play with Selby living off scraps and resorting to kicking the ball away in an attempt to relieve the pressure. When those kicks drop into the hands of Andy or Harry, that relief tends to be short-lived and Bees continued to take the game to Selby, getting their just rewards with a try from Joe Bashforth 5 minutes into the game.
Now the backs were settling into their stride and that slick handling that has become a hallmark of their play was beginning to show through. It wasn’t long before these skills paid dividends as the ball sped through the hands of Nick, Sam and Matt to reach Andy, who, still in his own half had lots to do. Our county winger didn’t disappoint, as he effortlessly switched to overdrive and glided past the Selby centre and wing before neatly cutting inside the full back to score under the posts.
More evidence of the back’s skills came shortly afterwards when a perfectly timed pass from Nick Gore found Ryan Wilson on the left wing who slipped and slithered his way through a couple of tackles to score the third try of the game.
The travelling supporters were looking forward to another score before half time but Selby had other ideas. Far from being down and out, they were now finding their feet and started to take the play to Bees. Some solid defence by Bees, including a couple of noteworthy tackles from Matt Dilworth and Harry Ellison and a textbook “centre’s tackle” from prop Will Scrimshaw prevented Selby from converting this period of pressure into any points. At half time the score remained at 0-21, with all three Bees tries having been converted by Nick Gore.
Selby started the second half as they had ended the first. A couple of their lads were proving difficult to knock down; number 13 was particularly problematic and their 12 and 8 weren’t bad either. This time the Selby pressure did pay off; a converted try took the score to 7-21.
The Bees response was immediate; from the kick off the play remained in the Selby half with the forwards again dominating in the loose and good support play from the backs resulting in Nick Gore scrambling the ball over in the corner. After some deliberation, the referee awarded the try. Selby, clearly angered by the decision kicked the ball away, which led to the referee awarding a penalty kick off to Bees. And so began a series of bizarre events that saw Selby come mightily close to overturning the present score of 7-26. We saw a penalty try (given rather too readily for the Bees liking), a second penalty kick off, this time awarded to Selby following Bees dissent over the penalty try, a series of penalties (mostly to Selby), a referee induced substitution (the result of further Bees frustration when a forward pass (spotted by the linesman but ignored by the referee) allowed Selby in for another try). A further legitimate try from Selby and a Bees try from Andy meant the score was a nail biting 33-24. At this point, even the normally reserved John Booth was becoming pretty animated in the stand. With Selby very much in the ascendency and clearly believing they could snatch something out of this game, they piled the pressure onto Bees. But the lads were up to the task – they continued to defend solidly and the crowd were relieved when, with Selby pressing hard for another score, Bees managed to win turnover ball, which found its way to Andy who ran the length of the pitch to score his third try of the game.
Fittingly, the man of the match was awarded to the whole team for this brilliant effort. 12 months ago this is a game we would most likely have lost. The fact that we were quicker to settle to our game than Selby and we didn’t yield to the second half pressure were key elements in this victory. The forward play was particularly encouraging. The whole pack was much quicker around the park and much more committed in the loose than in previous weeks. There were some great runs from all the big guys, Wildman, Soddy, Will and Corey, and as ever the back row put in a tireless performance. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the game, however, was the contribution made by some of the “fringe” players. The ever willing Pete Booth stepped up to the plate at hooker and threw well to ensure we won more than our fair share of line-out ball. In the scrums, we held all of our own ball and nicked some of theirs. It was great to see Liam Hagerty driving into the ruck and maul with real purpose. Will Rix too made a big contribution and the confidence with which he claimed one kick off ball was a joy to behold. And Tony Butterworth made a real nuisance of himself, frustrating the Selby No 8’s breaks from the back of the scrum for long enough until help arrived.
Loads of positives to be taken from this game, not least the maturity shown from a team that continues to improve. A well deserved place in the Plate semi-finals awaits.