Hullensians 46 North Ribblesdale 3

NORTH Ribblesdale are now nine points adrift at the foot of Yorkshire One after their defeat by fellow strugglers Hullensians on Saturday.

The result also means that their hosts – promoted from Yorkshire Two last season – are 12 points ahead of the Settle club.

With their injury problems showing no sign of easing the strain on their small squad is really beginning to show in this most competitive of divisions.

Centres Jonny Moore and Jonathan Richards are the latest to fall victim of the club’s injury jinx as their team prepare for two tough fixtures.

Ribb face second-placed Malton & Norton at Grove Park on Saturday followed by a tough trip to sixth-placed Middlesbrough seven days later.

Conditions for the trip to Humberside were certainly far from ideal with a gale-force wind posing problems for the players.

And the journey home must have seemed a long one after a fame which saw Ribb conceded eight tries and only score one penalty goal from Stephen Moon in reply.

The early play saw the home pack make good ground with a number of powerful drives before the ball was released to Luke Coughlin who outpaced the defence.

Ribb needed to get a foothold in the game but soon found themselves further behind. Ollie Dynan shrugged off a couple of attempted tackles to score his side’s second try.

Hullensians have found life tough in Yorkshire One so finding themselves with early control was a real bonus.

Their growing confidence saw them secure the bonus point for scoring four tries before the break as Dynan – his second of the game – and winger Etienne Faucher crossed the Ribb line.

After the break, Hullensians continued to press home their advantage despite Ribb’s efforts to keep them at bay.

Chris Smith opened the second half scoring with a try and then Jason Conroy was credited with the score when the home side added a pushover.

The pacy Coughlin rubbed salt in Ribb’s wounds by running in two tries to complete his personal hat-trick.