Battling North Ribblesdale are Yorked by fast start (From Craven Herald)

Battling North Ribblesdale are Yorked by fast start

12:15pm Thursday 6th October 2011 in North Ribblesdale By Andrew Mills

York 30 North Ribblesdale 20

The heat was on for North Ribblesdale from the start as York hit them with 21 unanswered points in the first 20 minutes.

It was to the visitors’ credit that they didn’t crumble and ultimately launched a creditable fightback in which their superior fitness finally told on a sultry afternoon.

The telling difference between the sides was patience.

The maturity of the York pack shone through as they built pressure through the phases and only when they had the defence going back or had sucked a back into the tight, did they release the ball .

The first and second tries were similar in conception.

A series of rucks, created the platform for quick ball to be released to Billy Cakaunitabua who scored in the corner. Jon Dawes added the difficult conversion.

From the kick off York gained possession of the ball and scored a similar try through their excellent full back Alex Nixon which was again converted by Dawes.

Ribb came back, Will Davidson got away from inside his own half to make it into the 22, but was overwhelmed.

Ribb's old failing of impatience allied to some sloppy tackling gave York their third score .

Impatience has been a problem for several seasons with the same play repeatedly becoming frustrated at being able to score after a couple of phases and kicking the ball away.

There is no rationality about it they just kick rather than consolidate, it is not a good tactic at the best of times.

Against a full back like Nixon it is criminal. He either runs it back or puts in a booming kick to pen the opposition back.

The third try came from a York line-out on the ten metre line after Nixon had forced Ribb into the corner. Sloppy tackling let second row James Muloney amble 40 metres to score. Dawes added the extras .

A lot of sides would have crumbled particularly in the heat, but Dan Watson steadied the ship and Ribb started to produce good ball.

Simon Bolland was hauled down short of the line after a break up the right wing but York conceded a penalty.

Steve Moon saw his chance. He tapped the ball and shot through the defence to score a solo try wide out, Will Davidson added the difficult conversion.

Ribb ran the kick off back with Rob Hayes making the extra man, for Bolland to score a try converted by Davidson to bring the visitors back into contention at half-time with the score 21-14.

Dawes kicked another penalty early in the second half to extend York’s lead to ten points .

Ribb were getting on top up front and forced a penalty by Davidson to get within seven points again, but fittingly Dawes got another penalty after 76 minutes to put the game out of reach. A further Davidson penalty rounded off North Ribblesdale’s scoring.

The downside for North Ribblesdale was a lack of support for breaks by Davidson and Bolland and impatience in possession. Ribb must learn to keep the ball and build pressure which will lead to tries.

The great fightback was a big plus from a much-changed team. Mick Carr and Rob Corner had good games, Jack Davidson was an inspiring performer while his brother Will played with maturity in Ribb’s midfield.