Selby Town produce superb display to beat Athersley Recreation

Goals from Harry Clapham and Dan Davison gave Selby a good lead at the interval and a Sam Calvert goal looked to have put the game to bed for the home team before a 90th minute Alfie Bates goal reduced the arrears.

Town introduced new signing Sam Calvert into their lineup and with Matty Dawes suspended, Alex Marsh came back into the starting 11.

The game kicked off in front of 253 spectators on a lovely sunny afternoon but the early morning rain meant that great work from the Selby volunteers enabled the game to go ahead.

The Robins had an early chance as James Danby was unlucky to see his shot at the near post blocked, before Calvert got onto the end of a loose ball but a defender managed to force the ball for a corner.

From this the visitors defence seemed in disarray, and goalkeeper Ellis Pickard managed to clear with a trailing leg from a Danby shot.

Charlie Petch then surprised the Athersley defence when collecting the ball on the halfway line he moved forwards but his final shot was held by Pickard.

It was all Selby now, Calvert and Clapham were combining well. Clapham sent a great cross that Finlay Wade just failed to get onto the end of.

Selby Town celebrate their 3-1 victory over Athersley Recreation. (Image: Harvey Brewster) Petch headed an effort wide and then minutes later he mistimed a headed chance with only Pickard to beat.

Five minutes before the break, Town took the lead when a Wade corner saw Clapham score with a bullet header, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Just two minutes later, Selby made it 2 - 0 when Petch, again, foraged forward with the ball, which landed at the feet of Davison who made no mistake in beating Pickard from eight-yards.

Within 30 seconds of the interval, Calvert got a third for Town. Clapham worked the ball superbly to the Town new signing and he confidently ran onto place it past Pickard.

The visiting shot-stopper then did well to push a Caden McGrath effort around a post and Danby then headed a great Liam Love cross just over the bar.

As the game edged towards its conclusion Billy Mcdonald, for the visitors, headed an effort onto the roof of the home net and in injury time Alfie Bates headed a consolation goal in for the visitors from a corner.

Selby Town: Wilson, Mcgrath, Love, Marsh, Racher, Danby (Greening), Davison, Clapham (Parkinson), Calvert (Dry), Wade (Whiteley).

Unused sub: Bull.

Attendance: 253

Selby under-21's hoped to put some very disappointing results behind them when visiting Eastwood CFC under-21's for a league cup game on a gloomy night last Wednesday, writes Chris Smith.

The home side had played a few games less than the Robins but were unbeaten and would provide a stern test.

Eastwood had Selby on the back foot initially but the visitors' first attack saw a shot by Vinny Ward spilled by the home keeper before he recovered.

Eastwood's number 15 was a real handful from the start and forced a decent save from Henry Holder after a quick break from the right, but it was Selby who opened the scoring on five minutes.

A lovely move started by captain Harrison Whiteley saw the ball moved to Mitch Georgiou, before Ward put a great ball through to Ryan Swaby.

The latter calmly put the ball in the far corner of the net.

Seb Rhodes playing as the number seven found himself forward on several occasions and only a desperate intervention from the home side stopped him from getting into a goalscoring opportunity.

Rhodes and Ward then provided some good protection at the back.

Selby Town under-21's were involved in a thriller with Eastwood. (Image: Submitted) Eastwood were doing most of the pressing though and Selby were losing the ball in the middle of the park on the odd occasion and one instance proved costly on twenty-one minutes with the home forward racing clear.

His shot hit the post but the rebound was tucked away.

The Robins then won some corners themselves, one after a shot from Whiteley had been blocked, before Rhodes again found himself with space and took some steps before unleashing a shot that the home keeper could only parry.

Cyprian Michalski was in a great position and put away the loose ball to give Selby the lead again on 31 minutes.

Eastwood continued to look dangerous when coming forward but the visitors also sought to add to their tally.

One such move saw a foul in the home penalty area minutes before the interval and Swaby stepped up and put the spot kick to the left of the keeper who had been sent the wrong way.

After an initial foray up field from the Robins early in the second period, they found themselves being pushed back more and more and it wasn't a surprise when Eastwood pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute with a well-hooked shot going in after a free-kick wasn't cleared.

Holder was the busier of the two keepers, making several saves and having to claim the ball at corners.

Eastwood's tight marking was making it hard for Selby to break forward themselves and the home side was delivering a stronger performance in the second-half.

The home side rattled the bar on another break as the game entered the last 15 minutes, and Selby's defence was finally breached on 78 minutes.

It initially looked as though Holder had pulled off a great double save but the second parry over the bar had been from Reed who was given a red card for his instinctive reaction. The subsequent penalty was duly put away.

Worse was to follow as the Robins conceded a minute later with another loose ball buried, which gave Eastwood the lead for the first time in the game.

Holder produced some more saves as Eastwood now had their tails up but collided with the post when in action in the 85th minute and could take no further part. 

With all their substitutes used, Selby were down to nine men and there was no coming back from that. They held out for what turned out to be another ten minutes of play.