North Ribblesdale turn tables on Bridlington (From Craven Herald)

North Ribblesdale turn tables on Bridlington

8:56am Thursday 29th September 2011 in North Ribblesdale By Andrew Mills

North Ribblesdale 27 Bridlington 9

North Ribblesdale lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with a rousing performance which earned them their first Yorkshire One win and ended Bridlington’s unbeaten record.

Missing Jack Davidson, but having Dan Watson and Mick Carr returning, Ribb were close to full strength.

The opening minutes were littered with penalties, most of them conceded by North Ribblesdale, and it was no surprise when Maru opened the scoring with a penalty goal for Bridlington.

Once Ribb had come to terms with the refereee’s interpretation of the laws they clawed their way back into their opponents’ half.

A maul infringement gave Steve Moon the opportunity to level the scores with a penalty which he duly accepted.

Play remained evenly contested until Dan Watson, who had an influential game, broke from halfway.

He drew the full back before passing to Nathan Dakin who showed good pace to score wide out for an unconverted try.

Brid came back and battered away at Ribb’s midfield, but Will Davidson and Watson defended resolutely.

The seasiders could not force a breakthrough but did kick a penalty to get to within two points.

A good chase from the kick off forced a turnover, and when Bridlington were caught offside, Moon kicked another penaltyto make it 11-6 two minutes before half-time.

Simon Chapman then produced a match-changing moment. Brid opened up the Ribb defence for the first time and Stirk seemed certain to score until Chapman put in a great tackle.

He secured the ball and won a penalty to enabled Ribb to retain their lead.

Five minutes into the second half the agile James Dugdale stole a Brid line-out. Fluent passing gave Watson the space for a searing break which created the opening for Simon Bolland to score a try.

Ribb were now putting pressure on the Bridlington eight and the visitors weren’t helped by a series of injuries which saw them use all their substitutes.

Ribb were playing in the visitors half and forced a penalty converted by Will Davidson to give Ribb a 13-point cushion.

Ribb sent on Matthew Dakin for Rob Hayes who had a good game on his home debut.

Bridlington were reduced to 14 men when centre Roberts collided with Chapman’s hip and was oncussed. He appeared unsteady, but carried on for a few minutes before retiring.

Ribb were now on top, but Brid were full of fight until Mick Carr burst onto a pass by Watson and crashed through for an unconverted try out wide.

Ribb drove hard from the kick off and almost scored under the posts, but Moon dropped a goal to put Ribb three scores ahead at 24-6 .

Brid did drive into the Ribb half and were rewarded with a Maru penalty, before losing a seocnd player to injury.

With Brid down to 13 men,Watson made another diagonal break putting Bolland in for a simple try which secured the bonus point.

Ribb could be well satisfied with their win. Watson was hugely influential while Will Davidson and Rob Hayes showed good pace and David Fox was a positive link .The pack got better and better through the game .