North Ribblesdale 15 Hullensians 5

ORTH Ribblesdale hauled themselves off the bottom of Yorkshire One with a hard-earned win.

It was a morale-boosting result but more wins are needed if they are to escape from relegation.

Ribb had to work hard for their success. They had the edge in the forwards but Hullensians were dangerous in the backs.

The threat they posed was perfectly illustrated by a long-distance try from winger Josh Langford in the second half.

That brought the visitors back into contention at 10-5 and Ribb needed a late try from Mick Thwaite to make the game safe.

Ribb had started strongly and put their opponents under pressure. Thwaite kicked them into a 3-0 lead from a penalty when Hullensians had a player yellow carded for a ruck offence.

Hullensians began to bring their backs into the game and the Ribb defence needed to be resolute and alert to keep them out.

Richard Wood turned the ball over and Ribb cleared into the visitors' half. An overthrow at a line-out gave Matt Speres possession and he made a characteristic burst into the 22.

A big drive by Richard Lynn, who carried well all match, took his side close to the line where a scrum was awarded. Ribb exerted pressure and had the Hullensians retreating. Speres was left with room to dive over for a try which was converted by Thwaite for a 10-0 lead.

Ribb then had a tricky period in the last ten minutes of the half as Hullensians dominated possession and tested the defence.

Ribb relieved the pressure with a good turnover executed by Will Booth and Wood.

The midfield defence was well organised by Jonny Moore and Jonathan Richards and kept the dangerous visiting backs in check.

Ribb were immediately under pressure at the start of the second half but the pack, led by the back row, slowed the ball down and denied Hullensians the chance to engineer a break.

Finally, full back Jonathan Steel came into the line to create an overlap for Langford who outstripped the cover to score from 60 metres to score.

Steel suffered a broken ankle soon after and there was a lengthy break in play before he left the pitch.

This disrupted the visitors more than Ribb who took the edge in possession and territory after the resumption.

The last ten minutes showed that Ribb were the fitter side as they kept the ball and pushed Hullensians back into their own half.

The match was sealed when Hullensians were stripped of the ball over their own line by Mick Thwaite who struck the post with the conversion.

For the first time in the match were Ribb were now two scores clear and rode out the rest of the match comfortably.

Ribb looked a better balanced side with Richards and Alex Naylor straightening the line and making some space.

The return of Sam Boatwright gave Ribb some bulk. It allowed rotation of the forwards which kept Hullensians under pressure and was key to their success.