North Ribblesdale 20 Bradford & Bingley 41

NORTH Ribblesdale's young side stood up to be counted against the league leaders at Grove Park on Saturday.

Although the margin of defeat was 21 points, the performance was heartening and should stand Ribb in good stead for their difficult remaining fixtures.

Josh Long had a fine game at full back and showed some elusive footwork while his brother Tom tackled well on the wing.

There was also another encouraging display from Will Booth who was up against the biggest second row pairing in the league.

Ribb's spirited efforts were rewarded with three tries from Matt Dakin, Richard Wood and Johnny Moore while Mick Thwaite kicked a conversion and a penalty.

The Bees are a powerful side and their pack were soon dominating the scrums and line-outs. It was no surprise when Ben Greaves went over for the first try after seven minutes with Shaun Driver converting.

The Ribb defence was being kept busy and it was no surprise when Adam Sutcliffe scored a second try after good work by scrum half Richard Scull and Tom Cummins.

Mick Thwaite kicked a penalty after to open Ribb's account before Bees scored another try when Greaves got his second.

There was a welcome boost for Ribb just before half-time when Richard Wood went over for a try.

The Bees were clearly roused by their half-time talk and scored an early try through Cummins despite the determined efforts of Tom Long.

The visitors had upped their game and the tempo increased with Greaves getting his hat-trick and Sutcliffe scoring near the posts.

Ribb did not buckle and after a period of stern defence Moore went the length of the field for a converted try from an interception.

Ribb took play to the Bees and after a period of pressure scored a nice try when Dakin sauntered in untouched and although he fumbled the ball the touchdown was given.

The final try went to the Bees sub Michael Crotch. The game lasted another ten minutes but neither side could score again.

Defeats at home should not be taken lightly but there were a lot of pluses, especially the performances from the younger players.

Ribb should travel to Hull on Saturday in a positive frame of mind after this game and hopefully some of the legion of injured players will return.