Wily Fox pounces with last-gasp try as North Ribblesdale win relegation battle at Selby

NORTH Ribblesdale snatched victory in the last seconds of a fiercely-contested Yorkshire One relegation battle.

David Fox scored in the corner from a long Peter Cook pass in a dramatic finish to the game.

Ribb launched a desperate last assault and were awarded scrum. Selby were twice penalised and on each occasion Ribb opted for scrums.

Eventually they knocked on giving Selby a scrum with just nine seconds remaining.

They won possession and kicked the ball dead, but time was not up. Ribb had another scrum which they won to set up Fox's decisive try.

Although they are not mathematically safe, it looks unlikely that they will be one of the two teams going down now.

All the bottom four sides have hard run ins and Ribb are now three points clear of Yarnbury and six above Selby with three games to go.

They play York at home on Saturday and will be looking to get something out of that as well.

The victory had not looked likely in the early stages. Selby started in a forthright manner and were soon pounding Ribb's midfield and using their running forwards to gain ground.

Stand-off Josh Cruise kept his pack going forward with Ribb defending manfully.

Cruise opened the scoring when he landed a penalty from the ten-metre line.

Ribb's defence gradually tightened and Selby were finding it harder to make ground.

Cruise kicked another penalty after ten minutes from a similar distance to stretch the lead to 6-0 and this stirred Ribb into positive action.

They secured a turnover in midfield and Johnny Moore slid behind the winger to put Selby under pressure for the first time.

Ribb started to get some set piece ball as they kept Selby in their own half.

The visitors were appreciably quicker to the loose ball,with Will Thwaite and Will Booth showing good mobility for second rows.

Ribb had their best spell in the last ten minutes of the first half getting Jonathan Richards over near the posts for a try, Mick Thwaite's conversion gave them a slim 7-6 lead.

Selby were quickest out of the blocks in the second half and surprised Ribb with their aggression.

Cruise put the ball in the corner and Selby kept Ribb trapped there.

Selby got close with a couple of driven line-outs before a half break by Ben Lunt was just covered by John Padley.

Cruise kicked his third penalty when Ribb were caught offside to edge Selby ahead.

Ribb were struggling in the scrum and the line-out became unreliable as their supply of set-piece possession diminished.

They could not get any front-foot ball as Selby enjoyed their best period of the second half.

Their pressure was rewarded when a blindside break from Andrew Tunningley produced a try which Cruise could not convert.

At 14-7 and with ten minutes to go in a low-scoring game, Selby were favourites.

They had the dominant pack and an astute stand-off in Cruise who kept the ball in the Ribb half.

Things changed when veteran John Thwaite was introduced as a replacement. The scrum tightened and the line-out became more productive.

Mick Carr almost got away with a surging run before Selby were penalised

Mick Thwaite kicked for the corner and Ribb drove for the line from the line-out.

Selby kept them out but conceded the scrum which resulted in the sequence of set-pieces which led to Fox's dramatic match-winning try.