Yarnbury 10 North Ribblesdale 20

NORTH Ribblesdale scored 12 unanswered second-half points to extend their impressive unbeaten Yorkshire One run to nine games.

One again their back three were the key figures as they turned an 10-8 half-time deficit into a victory despite playing up the slope and into the wind at Brownberrie Lane.

Ribb proved to be much fitter than their larger opponents whose one area of dominance throughout the match was the line-out.

The Ribb pack proved solid in the scrum while John Paddley was always first to the loose ball.

Yarnbury made a fast start and dominated the early exchanges. Twice they got the ball out to their lively winger Ellis Gomersall who twice beat his man to make ground.

Both defences proved resolute and scrum half Alex Naylor pushed a penalty wide before opening the scoring when Yarnbury strayed offside.

Full back Adam Whaites cleared one moment of danger before Ribb extended their lead. A switch move put Simon Bolland away on the blind side. He beat his man and after drawing the full back put Whaites in for an unconverted try.

Ribb made an awful mess of the kick off and put themselves under a lot of unnecessary pressure.

They appear to lack co-ordination receiving restarts and this enabled Yarnbury to exert a spell of pressure which brought them two tries.

Ribb resulted several charges by Yarnbury’s big men before they they conceded a penalty which led to lock Ian Maycock going over from a driving maul.

Yarnbury added a second try when James Barrett was driven over the line after his side had kicked a penalty into the corner and won the resulting line-out.

Ribb's followers were concerned that the big boot of home stand off Jarrod Huss and a dominant line-out were the perfect ingredients for Yarnbury to utilise in the second half when they had the advantage of the wind and the slope.

The game didn't pan out as expected. The Ribb back three stayed deep and ran the ball back with Paddley securing possession in the loose as Ribb forced turnovers and won penalties.

Bolland scored a fine try five minutes into the second half to edge Ribb into a 13-10 lead. Yarnbury’s forwards started to fall off the pace and miss tackles.

Sam Boatwright, Matt Speres and Mick Carr started to make dents in the home defence as Ribb dominated possession and territory.

Both wingers had good runs before a Whaites break out of his own 22 led to another score. Speres shrugged off several tackles before handing on for Mick Carr to waltz over in the corner. Naylor landed the difficult conversion to put Ribb two scores ahead.

Ribb remained in control as the home side wilted. The front row of John Thwaite, Speres and Chris Lambert outplayed their bigger opponents and were instrumental in providing a platform for this win.

The team played with great spirit and had an astute second-half game plan which allowed their backs to dominate.

Ribb round off their season at home to York on Saturday and will be hoping to sign off with another victory.