North Ribblesdale 50 Bridlington 0

North Ribblesdale produced their most tactically astute performance in recent years as they overwhelmed a combative Bridlington side who never gave up and battled away all game.

The power of the tackling from both sides was fierce and some of the collisions were crunching.

Sam Boatwright was immense putting in a series of big hits while Johnny Moore and Josh McFarlane in the centre were not far behind.

Usually Ribb do not play well into the wind but on Saturday half backs Hayden Viles and Steve Moon were excellent.

Moon prompted and probed intelligently to keep his back line moving forward in the first half and used the strength of the wind judiciously to secure crucial territory in the second half.

Playing against a strong wind is normally an exercise in containment, getting the ball and keeping it for as long as possible in the hope of keeping the score down.

Ribb tore up the script as they dominated after an early period of Brid lington pressure and were rewarded with a well-worked try.

Moon carried the ball from deep before linking with Moore. He made ground before Matt Speres punched a big hole in the defence for Simon Bolland to score a fine team try.

The Seasiders came back with powerful ball carrying from their big men.

Boatwright and Will Thwaite had to put in some hard tackles in this period. Brid made a few dents in the defensive line but could not break through.

The next try was worth the admission money alone. Brid kicked very deep to David Fox who was inside his own 22.

He handed on to Bolland whose pace and power took him into the Bridlington half before he passed to Ethan Henare.

The ever-improving flanker showed startling pace for a big man as he powered into the 22 and stepped inside to score under the posts. Jonathan Richards converted and Ribb were 12-0 up after 15 minutes.

Speres collected the kick off and went on one of his trademark runs, bouncing off defenders who were unable to come to terms with his low centre of gravity.

Once again Ribb were digging deep into the visitors territory. The supporters on the balcony were having a bonus.

With the wind blowing down the pitch from their end play would normally have been in the far half, but Ribb’s defence was such that Brid could not establish any sort of platform.

They were winning set-piece ball but they were smothered by the home defence.

Will Thwaite and Boatwright were well to the fore as they released their loose forwards to forage for the ball.

Viles and Moon thrived on the midfield mismatches and the next try came when Alex Naylor went over wide out.

This was followed by a fine run by Speres who scored near the posts.

Moon, taking over the kicking from the injured Richards, added the conversion for a 24-0 half-time lead.

Ribb were firmly in control. They had the edge in the tight and dominated the close collisions.

With the strong wind now behind them Moon used a mix of kicks to keep his team on the front foot.

Fittingly he scored the next try with an interception as Brid tried to punch through the middle of the defence.

Brid then had their best spell. They put their moves together and got into the Ribb 22 on a number of occasions. They went close to scoring but the home defence stood firm.

The Ribb tackling ensured there was no joy for the visitors.

Ribb eventually turned the ball over and Moon kicked deep.

Brid won the line-out and tried to move right but Moore and McFarlane drove the attack back to force a scrum which Ribb won.

Moon put the ball behind the defence and Brid just managed to scramble it in to touch. The let off was a brief one. The line-out was won and the resulting maul saw Mick Carr burst over for a try.

Brid had another bright spell and they looked set to open their account when a swift move appeared to have put their left winger in the clear.

Bolland had other ideas and came across to scramble the ball away.

The last ten minutes was all Ribb with Carr getting his second try and McFarlane scoring another on the stroke of time courtesy of quick hands from Moon The lively Moon finished with five conversions and a try.

Boatwright was deservedly named as man of the match.

Ribb have a tough three weeks ahead with Dinnington away, leaders Doncaster Phoenix at home and Scarborough away.

Ribb seconds rounded of a good weekend with a 73-0 win against Otley with Michael Thwaite getting 33 points.