Hat-trick Harry edges tight tie

April 28, 2022

Hull Ionions 24 Selby U16s 35

Selby travelled over to Hull Ionions on Sunday morning for their final game of what’s been a tough season.

Thirteen eager lads took to the field to try ruin Hull’s day on their own turf, with over 20 players and a healthy crowd present for the home team. Selby played the first half with the assistance of a strong wind, and took full advantage early on, with Harry Blore collecting a cross field kick from Mason Hurst, who also converted to put Selby seven points up after five minutes. A mistake from the kick off gave Hull strong field position, who kept the ball in Selby’s half for the majority of the first half, but they didn’t cross Selby’s try line till the 30th minute, also converting from out wide to make it 7-7.

Selby continued to defend for the final five minutes of the half, but a turnover and long kick from Joe Schofield gave Oliver Spink a 75-metre foot race against the Ionions winger, who tackled Oliver off the ball to deny him scoring, leading to a penalty try to put Selby 14-7 in front at half time. The second half couldn’t have started worse from Selby, dropping off tackles and allowing easy field position to Hull who scored two tries and converted one to lead 19-14 after 10 minutes of the second half. The 13 Selby players started to struggle as Hull rolled players on and off to keep energy levels high, but a mistake from Hull gave Harry Blore the chance to stretch his legs down the left wing once again who ran under the posts for his second try, Mason Hurst converting to put Selby two points in-front, but they didn’t lead for long. Within three minutes, Ionions’ strong running resulted in a try, but the conversion was missed, putting Hull 24-21 up with eight minutes left.

Running into a strong wind all second half, with no substitutes, no one would have blamed Selby if they’d have given up at this point, but they were determined to ruin Hull’s day. Noah Athraby managed to break the line at halfway and run clear of the chasing defenders, leaving Mason Hurst a challenging kick into the wind, but he slotted it straight down the middle, putting Selby 28-24 points up with three minutes left. Hull once again rolled the subs, bringing fresh legs on to push for the win, finishing the match with one extra player due to a Selby head injury and lack of subs, but Selby’s resilience shone through, with Harry Blore completing his hat trick with the last play of the game, Mason Hurst converting his fourth kick of the match to finish the season on a high, with the Colts waiting for some fresh blood next season! (28-04-745 SU)

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