North Ribblesdale RUFC 10 v 7 Selby RUFC

Report by Ray Adamson

On a bitterly cold afternoon at Settle and after a couple of days of rain and snow, Selby again returned from North Ribblesdale with just a losing bonus point despite having the majority of advantage in terms of possession and territory. One thing that Ribblesdale have shown in the last two League encounters at Grove Park is a tremendous rearguard defence and it was exactly this which saw them take the spoils last Saturday.

Ribblesdale kicked of and within 3 minutes of the start of the game Selby were dealt a double blow when home Fly Half Michael Thwaite successfully converted his side's first penalty, awarded for a high tackle and Selby Hooker Millar McCoy was forced from the pitch with an ankle injury to be replaced by Mark Tanner. The prevailing conditions determined that the game would be very much a war of attrition and so it proved with both sets of Forwards striving to get the upper hand. After 20 minutes of relative stalemate the Selby Forwards began to get on top and despite being camped close to the Ribblesdale line, were unable to breach a solid home defence until the 34th minute. A line out on the 22 was cleanly caught and an impressive drive and a series of picks from the back of the Ruck saw the visitors inch their way towards the try line with replacement Hooker Tanner eventually credited with the try thanks to the excellent work of the rest of the Selby pack. Josh Cruise, Selby's man of the match on the day, struck a fine conversion to establish a 7 points to 3 lead. From the re-start Selby again drove towards the Ribblesdale line and a promising attack was first thwarted and then lost when Ben Booth conceded a penalty for punching and was yellow carded by referee Mike Ramsden. Ribblesdale were given an easy escape route and the score remained at 7-3 in Selby's favour at the Half Time break.

The second half followed the pattern of the first, with Selby Forwards gaining the upper hand but struggling to break down a stubborn home defence. The visitors made a number of tactical changes to try to find a way through but it was Ribblesdale who took a surprising lead after 68 minutes when a rare handling move in the three quarters saw home Full Back David Fox evade some ineffective tackling to cross for a try which Thwaites was able to convert and which was enough to secure the victory for Ribblesdale. The only consolation for Selby was the fact that they again picked up a losing bonus point, but with results in other games going against them, they saw themselves drop to 10th place in Yorkshire 1 and the gap between themselves and lower teams reduced.

This Saturday Selby entertain Old Brodleians who currently occupy fourth place in the table, so another stern test is anticipated with Selby hoping that home advantage and another strong performance from the Forwards will help bring them another morale boosting victory.