North Ribblesdale 19 Malton and Norton 38

THE pitch was in great condition for this rearranged game against Yorkshire One promotion favourites Malton and Norton on a sunny and crisp day at Settle.

Ribb, shorn of half a first team through injury, were expecting a hard day at the office which became tougher after the first minute of the game when they lost openside John Padley to a knee injury.

Malton signalled their intention from the start to make their vast size advantage in the forwards the only feature of their game.

Malton scored five tries through their very effective and streetwise pack while the sixth came from one of their centres after good forward work.

Credit must go to the Ribb forwards who worked tirelessly and never gave up in the face of a tide of offensive possession with no respite at the scrum.

The Ribb pack are a hardworking and tenacious group galvanised by the likes of John Thwaite, James Dugdale, Jim Tunney and Will Booth and play above their weight every week but on some days having a big heart just isn’t enough.

Ribb were a score down in two minutes having not touched the ball from the kick off. Prop Ben Boothman scored the first try.

The home forwards then constructed an effective maul which was brought down as a try became inevitable, leading to the sin binning of the Malton blind side.

Another maul resulted in the ball being touched down over the line but wasn’t awarded by the unsighted referee.

This gave Ribb a slight advantage which they turned into points with a try wide out after several phases of play by Ryan Gill. Steven Moon bagged the conversion from the touchline, giving Ribb an unlikely 7-5 lead.

Malton returned to their forwards and mauled their way to a try in the corner by hooker James Thornton halfway through the first half and again just before half-time when their centre Sam Harrison was the beneficiary of the forward pressure. Ribb were 17-7 down at half time.

After the break it was more of the same. The Malton pack scored two converted tries from the tight through No 8 Josh Heggie and flanker Sam Triffitt. The Ribb forwards then started to move the big Malton pack around the park posing a threat on several occasions and giving the backs a little more ball with which to take on their opposition.

Indeed it was Ribb who scored the next two tries through their dangerous backs. After sustained movement and phases debutant Josh Long was shoulder charged into touch at the corner earning a penalty try.

More good pressure by Ribb in the loose saw Gill gather up the ball and scamper over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Malton were only a score and a half in front and weren’t pleased with Ribb's expansive and entertaining rugby so stuck it up their jumper for the try by Ian Cooke which put the game to bed.

The Ribb backs outscored their opponents three tries to one with turnover and retreating ball and were secure in defence. If only.