Excitement was in the air as Pontefract U14’s hosted Selby in round 1 of the Yorkshire cup.
An excellent training session in the week continued into the game as Pontefract came out of the blocks quickly. Good field position along with phases of possession built pressure in the Selby 20 metre zone. Selby’s defence was excellent and kept Pontefract’s strong ball carriers at bay. It was a piece of individual skill from Tom Simmons which finally unlocked the defence for the first score. Continued pressure straight from the restart led to another scoring opportunity which Allott exploited, continuing his great form. Selby's outstanding fullback used his pace to finish a nice handling move to bring Selby back into the game. Some unforced errors crept into the Pontefract attack but a series of dominant scrums won the home team the ball back in good field position from which Tom Hunter chimed into the line from fullback and scored next to the posts. Strong runs from Nako got Pontefract over the gain line allowing fast distribution from half backs, McDermott and Dykes. Simmons was a constant threat and completed an excellent first half hat trick.
The second half continued as the first ended with Pontefract on the attack. There was a number of scoring opportunities which went unconverted but Ponte remained positive. Aggressive line speed in defence put pressure on the Selby halves and Simmons anticipating the play intercepted a pass to score his 4th try. Allott finished off the scoring with another strong carry from the powerful second rower.
Credit to Selby for their professional attitude, a team to keep an eye on as the season progresses but it was Pontefract’s day and they are in the hat for the next round.