NOT EVEN the spirit of Dunkirk could lift Selby into the third round of the EDF Senior Vase as Selby slid to a 10-5 defeat at Sandal.

Selby gave everything in defence to shore up their first-half lead but it wasn't enough after a late breakthrough shattered the hopes of the travelling side.

Father and son duo Mark and Simon Tomlinson lined up together for the first time after Mark's decision to put off retirement.

Selby had the first-half advantage of a considerable slope and attacked from the off with the forwards giving a solid scrum platform while retaining the ball in the loose.

But Sandal's swarming defence in a rugby league style proved to be the equal of anything Selby could throw in their direction with a tactic of running at every opportunity from the start.

The first 20 minutes were played in Sandal's 22 but they always threatened a breakout and their dangerous winger looked like he was en route to the line before Rich Topping took him into touch with a try-saving tackle.

Selby were on top and when skipper Andy Bennett opted to turn down the offer of three points by kicking a penalty to the corner, his judgment was vindicated as the line-out was secured and the forwards drove on for livewire hooker Shane Sellers to break blind and finish well in the corner.

Dan Porter could not find the extras despite some intelligent in-play kicking.

The Wakefield men then started to come back into the game and Selby found themselves on the back foot with tackling the key priority to fend off the constant Sandal threat until a harsh penalty put Sandal within two points on the stroke of half-time.

The second-half was all about Sandal and Topping was again called into action to thwart another five pointer.

As the clock ran down, the Selby rearguard started to resemble something from Dunkirk with the number of escapes being racked up by the Selby defence.

But in the dying moments, Sandal's big captain number eight Richard Wade drove unstoppably under the posts to break Selby's hearts and sparked high celebrations from the home team's players and supporters.