Wheatley Hills 13 North Ribblesdale 9

THIS match had shades of last September when North Ribblesdale visited the league’s whipping boys Acklam and lost a game they should have won easily because they adopted a one-dimensional approach.

Once again they spent all afternoon running at the biggest forwards and showed they have learned little in the past 12 months.

Ribb have two speedy wingers but they saw little ball as it was repeatedly crashed up into the centre just where a big immobile pack likes to play.

The back row of Matt Speres, Will Booth and John Padley were all good and they would have been even more effective if the breakdown was wide out.

The game started brightly for Ribb as they penned Hills into their own half and David Fox got his side off the mark with two long-range penalties.

The good work was undone when an attempted pass out of the tackle was and Hills scored a converted try.

Ribb were under pressure in the scrum but it stabilised when Richard Lynn was introduced.

Just before half time Fox hit the bar with another long-range penalty.

At half-time Hills’ coach had obviously told his side to keep it tight, but their attempts to punch holes up the middle were stifled as Padley and Speres forced a number of turnovers.

Ribb made a surprising change when Richard Lynn was replaced by Andrew Thwaite, a lightweight flanker in the second row.

Wheatley started to dominate possession and territory and for the next 25 minutes were pressing in the Ribb 22.

They extended their lead to 13-6 with two penalties and took control. Ribb hardly had a sniff despite Wheatley being reduced to 14 men for ten minutes. Hitting and hoping from the halfway line is one thing, kicking under pressure is another.

Shortly after another brief visit to the 22 brought another penalty which Mick Thwaite converted to reduce the deficit to 13-9 with five minutes to go.

Lynn returned and Graham Newhouse moved back into the second row.

Ribb immediately drove into the home 22 and stayed there for the rest of the game.

In a last two frenetic minutes Ribb could not breach the home defence and had to be satisfied with a single point instead of the four or five they should have had.

They will looking to improve at home to York on Saturday.