CONCEDING three quick tries either side of half time was Selby's undoing in a friendly against Sheffield.

Sheffield, led by ex-Selby coach and player Diccon Edwards, ended up 39-15 winners as a patchy Selby performance proved enough to let their opponents in.

Selby were pinned in their own half for the first ten minutes, and, with Sheffield twice threatening to score, it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 12th minute with an unconverted try in the corner from a maul.

A Sheffield injury saw the match temporarily switched to the second XV pitch which sparked some improvement as full-back Rich Topping ran in an equalising try after the ball was spread wide and Shaun Austerfield helping to create space for the touchdown on 33 minutes.

Sheffield immediately responded and Selby managed to hold them up once over the line but they broke it five minutes later to retake the lead before stretching it further following a poor Selby kick-off to lead 19-5 at half time with Selby prop Richard Fuller in the sin bin.

A return to the first team pitch heralded more Sheffield points on the board but Selby pulled the deficit back when a cross-kick by Toby Pemberton sparked a penalty which was driven over and grounded by Shane Sellers.

Three more Sheffield tries killed off the slim Selby hopes but the side never gave up and were rewarded when young Sam Weller took the ball from Martin Bramley for a try, minutes after having a similar effort disallowed for having a foot in touch.

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Updated: 11:44 Monday, January 16, 2006