Leaders too tough for Ribb

Drifffield showed why they are top ofYorkshire Division One with a clinical and ruthless demolition of a North Ribblesdale side shorn of six regulars.

Ribb started well taking the game to their powerful visitors with their front row in the ascendancy.

The home side took three scrums against the head in the first half, however the writing was on the wall in the line-out.

Ribb struggled to win any ball and when Driffield changed their game in the second half it exposed this failing.

Playing away from the clubhouse, Ribb more than matched the visitors who took an early lead against the run of play after 15 minutes when McQueen scored wide out.

A good penalty from Robbie Davidson put Ribb on the board and they quickly added a try.

Davidson collected a clearance kick and slipped the ball to skipper Mick Carr who went over wide out,.

Davidson made a difficult conversion look easy to give his side a 10-5 lead.

Ribb were good value for their lead and were unlucky not to have kicked a couple of penalties.

Jake Nowell, playing his first game this season, was very prominent along with Nathan Dakin and Tom Stead.

The front row was giving Driffield all sorts of problems while the midfield defence of Steven Moon, Will Davidson and David Fox kept their counterparts quiet.

In attack Ribb looked just as dangerous as Driffield, but crucially their concentration lapsed and a quick tap penalty put Olly Cooper through for a converted try just before half-time.

The Driffield coach gave his side a stern talking to and replaced both his props.

At first it made little difference as Ribb were still dominant in the scrums, however the writing was on the wall.

The league leaders started to kick the ball long as they utilised the strengthening wind.

This enabled them to make full use of their domination of the line-out where Ribb could not win their own ball.

They didn’t help their cause by not making any attempt to vary the line-out calls.

Driffield were fully aware of the value of line-out ball. With the rival back lines 20 yards apart there is room to attack.

They used the constant stream of possession they were winning to punch holes in the defence with their pack carrying the ball with power and pace.

Ribb pulled off some heroic tackles but the gaps were widening and Alisdair McClarron scored a try after 50 minutes through a simple overlap. This was converted by the skipper Robin Kitching.

This try broke the deadlock. Driffield’s forwards battered away and their backs, took advantage to run in tries at regular intervals.

McClarron scored two more to complete his hat-trick. Danny Smith, Cooper and Lester Bell also added further touchdowns.

Ribb were heavily outscored in the second half and were pummelled by a pack that struggled in the scrum but can carry the ball with some effect.

They were undone by their inability to win line-out ball, some effective counter rucking and a quick backline.

Ribb did have their moments in the second half and were close to scoring from three scrums on the line but Driffiled held out.

The essence of the game was that Driffield were hungry for points to clinch promotion and they kept up their effort for 80 minutes, In contrast, depleted Ribb competed until the game was no longer winnable but were beaten by a better team on the day.

There are plusses, Jake Nowell showed he has the making of a genuine openside flanker while the lively David Fox was impressive in the centre and New Zealand-bound Richard Lynn had his best scrummaging game of the season.

Ribb have four games remaining and will will now look to build for next season.

They have several players returning from long-term injury and will recover from this loss.