North Ribblesdale undone by Malton & Norton's power

RIBB’S injury problems continue to mount with Jonathan Richards and Mick Carr both leaving the field as Malton sealed the win in the late stages of the game.

The battling Ribb side were in with a shout until the last half hour when their hosts ran in two converted tries.

Ribb were soon under pressure as the big home forwards carried and retained the ball well as they played down the slope.

When the Ribb backline was sucked,Dave Woodhouse went over near the posts with Zwelakhe Sodladia converting.

The response from Ribb was swift. A great kick off from Steve Moon put Malton under pressure and they were forced to concede a scrum.

Moon supplied a perfect pass for winger Simon Bolland who pierced the firs-up defence with an inside run before passing to Nathan Dakin who sprinted 20 metres to the posts for a try which Richards converted.

Ribb took the ball back into Malton’s half from the kick off after a good run from Dakin.The home team conceded a penalty and Richards converted to give his side the lead.

Malton kicked off deep and kept Ribb in their own half for a lengthy period.

Bolland thwarted one thrust for the line with a superb tackle, but Ribb's defence was stretched allowing Sodladia to score with a two-man overlap.

Ribb were coming under increasing pressure with the home big No 8 Mark Bradshaw carrying well.

Sodladia and Richards swapped penalties as the half ended with the home side leading by two points.It revolved them using the pace and power of Bradshaw to put Ribb on the back foot.

A drive from a scrum put Alistair Coe in for a try which Sodladia converted. Ribb were under pressure but their defence battled hard to stem the tide.

A big tackle and turnover put Alex Naylor away and he went in under the posts from 70 metres with Moon converting to put Ribb within two points again.

From then on things went wrong. Richards and Carr were both forced to leave the field and the reshuffled side conceded ground allowing the home pack to go on the front foot. Woodhouse scored two further tries, both converted by Sodladia, to give Malton & Norton a 16-point winning margin.

Ribb's small pack scrummaged well with Mathew Knowles having another good game but they have limited ball-carrying potential.

It is difficult to engineer scores from set piece ball against well-organised defences and their only option is to move the ball away from contact and win the ruck .They kept in this game because of magnificent defence in which Bolland was outstanding.

Hopefully Carr and Richards will be available for Saturday and some of the injured come back soon. Ribb are also missing the penetration of Matt Speres who will be away for one more week.

Once they get their key personnel back they should be able to climb the table.