Middlesbrough 20 North Ribblesdale 3

TWO tries in the final ten minutes put the game out of reach of a North Ribblesdale side who failed to take their chances.

The visitors were on a par with Middlesbrough but wasted good ball with indecision in midfield and poor distribution.

Ribb’s kicking game was particularly disappointing when they had the advantage of the wind in the second half. They failed to test out the full back with high kicks.

The early stages of the match had been encouraging for Ribb as their forwards had the edge in terms of possession, so it was against the run of play that Middlesbrough went ahead.

Former Wharfedale stand-off Andy Baggett saw the opportunity on a wide blindside to suck in the defence and put Alex Cotterill in for the first unconverted try.

Ribb kept up the pressure and were rewarded when the home side were caught offside and Mick Thwaite landed a simple kick at goal.

The Ribb pack were playing well and kept the home side in their own half for long periods. Full back Sam Morphet dealt with Baggett's kicking game well and Ribb turned round with the wind in their favour only two points adrift.

The conditions made Ribb favourites, they had plenty of possession and a secure platform for their kicking game, however this never materialised. David Fox, who has a boot like a cannon, did not put the ball in the air once.

The home full back should have been peppered with high balls and kicks to the corner. Steven Moon, who had a good game, kicked one long ball which went dead and after that he kept it in hand.

This allowed Boro to keep play in midfield and Ribb away from their line.

Forward pressure gave Ribb several chances. Jonny Moore engineered an overlap on the left and Ribb looked bound to score but, the ball carrier ignored a two-man overlap. He went for the line and was dragged down in the corner.

Forward pressure brought penalties and from a short-range line-out Ribb had their best chance with a series of drives which sucked in the defence, but they failed to take advantage.

The Ribb pack had put in a serious shift and more than matched their opponents but a couple of penalties gave Baggett the opportunity to put Ribb into their own half.

From a driven line-out they again showed good handling to put Cotterill over for another unconverted try.

This invigorated the home side who had their best spell of the game in the last ten minutes with Cotterill completing his hat-trick.

This visibly deflated Ribb who had now lost their tenuous grip on the game and a losing point. Boro put Ribb under pressure and scored a fourth try from number eight Ali Lang.

Liam Wallbank, Morphet, Simon Spensley and Frankie Brown all caught the eye for Ribb who will be looking to register a win against Rishworthians on Saturday.