Hungry Ribb gain cup victory (From Craven Herald)

Hungry Ribb gain cup victory

7:06am Friday 5th January 2007 in Sport By Sportsdesk

North Ribblesdale 10 Malton and Norton 3

A powerful Malton and Norton side gave Ribb considerably more trouble than fellow Yorkshire One side York but Ribb prevailed in Saturday's Yorkshire Shield match with a disciplined approach and resolute defence.

After some early discomfort the scrum was settled and the line-out very good, but is was an appetite for the ball on the ground and a relish for the tackle that allowed Ribb to succeed.

Once again loose kicking put Ribb in trouble, the two best scoring chances for the visitors came with partly charged down kicks which put players well off-side back on-side and in possession.

The match started after an hour of heavy rain left standing water on the pitch. The first scrum looked ominous for Ribb as they were shunted off the ball, but the flexibility of the front row allowed a re-organisation and there was some further discomfort but no more serious problems.

The line-out was magnificent; once again Willy Garth and James Dugdale cleanly catching their own ball and taking some opposition balls. These two had very good games not only in the line-out and scrum but all over the pitch where their willingness to put bodies on the line secured a lot of possession.

After ten minutes, an Ian Bartlett penalty from a player who scarcely put a foot wrong put Ribb in the corner. Catching the throw was a formality for Dugdale, a rumble forward and skipper Ryan Kirkbride scored wide out. Jonathan Richards converted a difficult kick.

The appalling conditions seemed to affect Malton and Norton more than Ribb, who held possession better but both sides put together some impressive moves.

Both Simon Spensley and Graeme Pettiford had reasonable runs. Pettiford is improving with every game and his size makes him a handful and his ability to stand up in the tackle is invaluable.

After 20 minutes, Ribb had their first scare; a speculative kick was collected by the full back Cook whose kick was touched by a Ribb player putting number eight Dobson 30 yards behind play on-side. The ball on the ground and a failure to secure saw him hack on to the Ribb posts where Pettiford did what three or four players in front of him should have done and fell on it preventing a sure score.

The second Ribb scare came with a rousing burst from Dobson only halted by a tap tackle from Ned Walters. Apart from these two incidents, Ribb were untroubled by the visitors in the first half.

The second half gave no let-up in the conditions and although Ribb's opponents were comfortable on their own scrum ball Ribb's back row won second phase with Kirkbride, Mick Carr and James Howarth dominating their opposite numbers.

There was a far happier link at half back, Walters got a clean ball to Bartlett. Richards kicked a penalty to one by Cook and Malton and Norton had to play catch-up. They were frustrated by Ribb's midfield tackling by Ben Topham and Richards.

Their second kicking option was frustrated by Anthony Simpson who was very reliable at the back, taking the high ball and counter attacking.

With Richards and Topham rock-solid in the centre and the scrum their only reliable source of possession there was no way back for the visitors.

This was a tough game and Ribb face even tougher opponents in the next tie when they face Pontefract, who are old foes.

Pontefract are top of Yorkshire One with only one reverse this season and they will be very difficult to overturn but Ribb will have no qualms about playing them at home.

On Saturday, Ribb will seek to end their dismal away record with a trip to Dinnington in South Yorkshire.