Selby's Powergen Intermediate Cup adventure came to an end at London North 2 side Staines on Saturday when they were beaten 31-3, a scoreline which flattered their opponents.

Selby won the toss and played against a strong wind in the first half. They monopolised possession for the first 30 minutes but trailed 17-0 at half-time and two converted tries late in the game took Staines into the semi-finals.

The big difference between the sides was the performance of Fijian stand-off Waisale Serevi who generally controlled the game with his tactical kicking, his place-kicking and his quick service to the Staines back line.

Although Selby dominated possession in the first half they could not make much impression on an excellent Staines defence.

In the 19th minute when Selby were caught offside in front of their posts but Serevi, widely recognised as the best Sevens player in the world and with 38 Test caps, surprisingly missed the penalty chance from 24 metres, hitting the upright.

Selby continued to dominate, restricting Staines to an ambitious 50-metre penalty attempt, but Severi's attempt fell well short.

Staines took the lead in the 26th minute when their centre Redelinghuys touched down in the corner. Severi kicked the conversion.

Six minutes later Staines went further ahead when their favourite set piece paid dividends.

A penalty to the corner provided a successful line-out, with the forwards driving over. Former London Irish and England No 8 Chris Sheasby got the try with Serevi kicking the conversion.

In the 35th minute Staines were held up over the line. Shortly afterwards Selby were penalised for offside in front of their posts and Serevi kicked the penalty to make it 17-0.

Selby immediately swept play into the Staines 22, putting tremendous pressure on the line, with the Staines and ex-Harlequins flanker Chris White-Cooper yellow carded for persistent offside.

Selby continued to press with the advantage of the extra man and number 8 Jamie Pocklington narrowly failed to get a try.

Staines, despite being a man short, put tremendous pressure on the Selby line at the start of the second half and only a knock-on preventing a further score.

After 50 minutes Paul Randell replaced Jamie Pocklington and shortly afterwards Paul Scott relieved the Staines pressure with a massive kick to touch.

The resultant pressure caught Staines in an offside position but the relatively simple penalty kick by Selby winger Paul Scott went wide.

He made no mistake two minutes later with a similar chance.

Selby continued to press but Staines defended well and looking increasingly dangerous on the break, with Serevi impressively bossing the game.

Richard Nicholson replaced Duncan Phillips in the 70th minute, with Selby visibly tiring.

Staines went further ahead a minute later with their second row forward Nigel Taylor barging over for a try in the corner. Serevi kicked a magnificent conversion to extend the Staines lead to 24-3.

There were some good moves from Selby involving Shaun Austerfield, Paul Scott and Martin Protheroe but the Staines defence gave nothing away.

Andy Bennett and Mark Tomlinson replaced Rich Topping and Paul Gabel respectively.

In the second minute of added-on-time Chris White-Cooper went over unopposed in the corner for Staines. Serevi kicked an excellent conversion.

Although line-out possession was a problem for both sides, Selby took three scrums against the head, lost none on their own put-in and had a 15-6 penalty count in their favour.

Selby, having slipped a place to eighth in Yorkshire 1 after Saturday's league games, revert to league action next Saturday with a trip to second placed Wheatley Hills, with only six points separating fifth place from bottom place Yarnbury.

Selby must now concentrate on maintaining their Yorkshire 1 League status with only six games to play.

Updated: 10:29 Monday, February 14, 2005