Old Crossleyans 27 North Ribblesdale 22

NORTH Ribblesdale’s awayday blues struck again as they suffered defeat against lowly Old Crossleyans who are under the guidance of former Skipton coach Mark Walton.

Once again Ribb left themselves too much to do in the second half as they allowed their hosts to build a decisive 19-7 first-half lead.

It was to their credit that they fought back in the second half and earned a losing bonus point with a last-minute try from Simon Bolland, but they will be hoping they can find a cure for their slow starts in the new year.

Ribb had a try disallowed for a forward pass before Crossleyans opened the scoring with a Sam Broughton try from a rolling maul. Ryan Sweeney tagged on the conversion.

A 30-yard penalty attempt from Michael Thwaite struck an upright before Crossleyans doubled their advantage. Scrum half Chris Vine scored near the posts with Sweeney converting.

Ribb responded well to the setback and were rewarded when their talismanic No 8 Matt Speres forced his way over after successive five-metre scrums. Thwaite tagged on the conversion.

Just when Ribb though they were back in the game they conceded another try. Sweeney’s long punt across the field was gathered in by the pacy Luke Saltonstall on the other wing and he touched down for an unconverted try.

Ribb looked determined to take the initiative from the start of the second half and their efforts were soon rewarded. Thwaite landed a penalty goal and added the conversion when centre Jonathan Richards scored their second try.

With the deficit down to two points, Ribb were sensing they could win the game, but a penalty from Sweeney seemed to revive the home side.

They made the game safe with a maul which started on halfway and sent Ribb slithering back to their own line as No 8 Ryan Hammond extended the lead to 27-17 with his side’s bonus-point try.

Ribb earned themselves a bonus point in the last throes of the game when the speedy Simon Bolland won a race to touchdown a kick to the corner.