SELBY RUFC were left looking over their shoulders in Yorkshire One after losing 33-20 at Heath.

Selby had needed a top-rate performance to put daylight between themselves and the drop zone but were dealt an early blow when skipper Rob Taylor exited injured four minutes in, and they thereafter failed to match the intensity of a fired-up home side.

As a result, fourth-bottom Heath are only two points behind their visitors in the table.

Heath went ahead following a clean lineout 15 metres out, the forwards recycling the ball before driving second-row Matt Beastie over.

Ezra Hinchcliffe converted and, on the quarter-hour, spotted a gap in the Selby defence to cross wide out.

Selby struggled for cohesion before finally getting off the mark on the half-hour after a penalty for offside. Young scrum-half Danny Wilkinson took a quick tap and weaved through, Josh Cruise goaling.

Cruise soon booted a penalty after another offside call and, when Heath prop Chris Moore was sin-binned on the stroke of half-time, Selby’s hopes increased further.

A Hinchcliffe penalty eked up Heath’s lead but, within a minute, Selby were ahead. They recaptured the ball from the restart and moved it away from the contact area, sure handling in the backs seeing Cruise find Duncan Hardy wide out, the prop adding to his try tally. Cruise’s fine conversion made it 17-15.

However, Heath regained the lead with two Hinchcliffe penalties and, as Selby began to struggle, it was no surprise when the hosts went clear via a pushover try from a scrum.

Selby at least had chance to register a losing bonus point when a rare late incursion saw them gain another penalty for offside, Cruise hitting a tremendous 40-metre kick.

But Heath went in pursuit of their first bonus point victory of term and, in the last minute, their forwards mauled to the Selby line and drove Beastie over for his second try, Hinchcliffe converting.