Ribb pay dearly for missed chances (From Craven Herald)

Ribb pay dearly for missed chances

11:44am Thursday 15th December 2011 in North Ribblesdale

Driffield 22 North Ribblesdale 15

North Ribblesdale are starting to play well and could have won this match by a distance.

After an early penalty from Driffield’s Lee Birch it was all North Ribblesdale and it was no surprise when Dan Watson sliced through to score wide out for a try.

Will Davidson narrowly missed the conversion.

From the kick off Ribb came back and their backs were troubling the Driffield defence.

Two early chances were blown when a poor pass was put down with the line at their mercy.

Good kicking by Will Davidson drove Driffield back into the corners, and forced successive line-outs, but Ribb lost several on their own throw and this became a factor in their defeat.

Driffield eventually ground their way up field but Ribb turned round 5-3 up at half-time, but ruing the two chances they allowed to slip away.

The second half saw Driffield using their big pack to drive down the slope and they kept the ball away from Ribblesdale for long periods.

The Ribb line-out was stuttering but the scrum was solid with Richard Lynn producing another good performance.

Will Thwaite was prominent with his determined tackling and work in the loose.

Driffield went ahead with two tries, scored by Will Ollett and Callum Reilly with Birch landing one conversion.

Ribb responded well and a good back move saw in-form winger Simon Bolland get away on the left.

He got past his winger and gave the ball to Adam Stubbs who jinked inside to beat the cover before handing on to David Fox who went in under the posts for a try.

It reduced the home side’s lead to 15-12 , but that was as good as it got for North Ribblesdale.

Driffield drove the ball deep from the kick off and spent some time on the Ribb line, but could not penetrate their defence.

Finally they found a way through when from a line-out Lester Bell made a half break.

He appeared to be tackled and held but was allowed to get up and dive over for a converted try.

Soon after the referee gave Ribb a penalty on the 10-metre line which Will Davidson drilled over to put his side seven points adrift.

Although they battered away they could not score again and lost a game they could have won.

On this performance against a big powerful side who are second in the league, Ribb have nothing to fear.

The back line defence was unbreakable and the back row of Mick Carr, Ryan Kirkbride and Jack Davidson worked tirelessly, but the failure to take scoring chances proved decisive.

This was an unfortunate loss. Ribb had plenty to admire in their play and the performance will give them confidence for this week’s encounter with Castleford at home – the last fixture before the two-week festive break.