Suspect tactics prove costly as Ribb crash to bottom side

RIBB’S tactical acumen deserted them as they lost their Yorkshire One relegation clash at bottom side Old Brodleians.

They matched the home pack, with two young back-row forwards in the second row getting a penalty try for collapsing the scrum.

Jake Nowell and Jim Tunney both played a big part in this game and did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Ribb played the first half perfectly as they tackled tenaciously, kept the ball and scored a try up the hill from No 8 Matt Speres, who provided most of his side's go forward, just before half-time.

They were in good shape at the interval and Brods, although they had scored through Woods, were used to losing and looked down and out.

But it all went wrong straight after the restart when a loose kick by Brods, which deserved to be put into the bottom right-hand corner, was treated as though it was an unexploded bomb.

No-one picked it up until the Brods right winger arrived to grab hold of it, slipped it to inside centre Wood and he galloped in for the softest score.

This eased Brods 17-5 ahead, which Ribb would still have been confident of overhauling with just about the whole half remaining.

Their scrum was getting dominant and Ribb duly bumbled the ball down the hill to achieve a scrum, which Brods put down twice and resulted in a converted penalty try.

A rational thing to do with the kick-off was to put it down into the corner but that was not the case.

Instead the ball was risked in contact time after time without making any headway, so most of the last quarter was played in the middle of the pitch until Brods got a penalty which they converted to effectively put the game out of reach.

Ribb now needed to score twice, which looked unlikely as they played just about the whole of the second half on the halfway line.

This was a poor game and a dreadful loss.

Ribb's most experienced players are at the back of the scrum and in midfield, so why the ball was not booted down the pitch on every occasion by the half-backs is a conundrum that requires solving every time Ribb play with the wind at their backs.

This was a four-point game and, with a very makeshift side, Ribb should have played a simple game – yet they persevered with a midfield bash which got them nowhere.

There were pluses in the game. Nowell and Tunney played second row, which is a lightweight combination, and they were pushed about in the first half but kept the scrum in shape. But in the second half they sent Brods backward on several occasions.

Not only did they push, they also put themselves about, putting in big tackles and offering themselves up to carry the ball. They are two players with big potential with time very much on their side.

Ribb need more of this vigour in a team which, due to injuries, struggles to make an impact.

They have had hard games away at Doncaster and York and never looked as bereft of a tactical game as in this dreadful display .