Scarborough 27; North Ribblesdale 28
Report by Tim Elliott
North Ribblesdale:
Tries: Allsopp 5min, Watson 22min, Watson 60min.
Goals: Davidson, Conversions 22min and 60min, Penalties 40min , 50min and 65mins.
Scarborough:
Try: Watson 20min, Ratcliffe 68min, James 79min. Goals: Harrison Conversions 20min, 68min 79min Penalties 12min, Drop Goals 36mins.
Referee: Mr Richard Smith (Liverpool Society)
Attendance: 95
On a bright autumn afternoon, Scarborough made an incident filled journey across the breadth of North Yorkshire to the North Ribblesdale Club based in Settle. The preparation for a crucial league fixture not only suffered through an element of travel shyness and late drop outs but Harrison, Jeffrey, Purdy and James had the misfortune of being the victim of a rear end shunt on the outskirts of York, which left them slightly battered and bruised before the on field encounter even began. Whilst welcoming back experience and strength in the form of Lowde, Else and Watson, Scarborough lost both Adams and Freeman from the squad through illness and injury and only managed to fill the bench by the very late call up of Tite. The changes heralded a team who played to individual rather than team strengths. However, they came so close to victory at this Yorkshire One outpost with North Ribblesdale hanging onto a somewhat unexpected victory when the final whistle was heard.
North Ribb kicked off in conditions suited for running rugby with little wind, clear blue skies and the sun shining down the field. The first score of the day was not long in coming with Scarborough surrendering possession. On 5 minutes Ribb moved play across the field, driving deep into the Scarborough half through good passing. With the Scarborough defence drawn into a ruck on the left, the ball was moved quickly right and Allsopp cruised around the solitary Baird, to score on the right for a 5-0 lead with the conversion being pushed wide.
Scarborough came back almost immediately from the kick off. Mistakes by Ribb enabled Scarborough to run the ball from in their own half and on 10 minutes the Scarborough backs produced good handling and lines of running by Jeffrey to set Ratcliffe away down the right hand side. With the full back to beat and Sleep on his shoulder, Ratcliffe took the tackle but threw out a wayward pass which Sleep failed to field and the ball was spilled forward with the line at his mercy. From the scrum the home side were only able to clear their lines briefly before Scarborough drove back into the Ribb half where referee Smith adjudged a Ribb forward to have killed the ball in a ruck and Harrison stepped forward to kick the penalty from 30 metres on the right hand side to bring the score back to 5-3.
From the restart Ribb took the game to Scarborough moving the ball fast through the backs and exposing gaps in the Scarborough defence. Over complication at crucial moments led to mistakes which Scarborough capitalised on to clear their lines. No8 Carr for Ribb produced several bullocking runs bouncing tacklers off at will but fortunately for the travelling side his team mates were never with him to benefit from his independent breaks. Raines, James, Else, Jeffrey and Cutino made several telling breaks from their own half however Ribb defended well if somewhat over tenaciously at times with a number of late tackles and some ‘afters’ which is unusual for a normally clean playing Ribb side. Both sides had a spell of knock on’s and passes not going to hand which led to a poor visual game for any observer.
On 20 minutes, following a strong up field drive by the Scarborough forwards and backs combining, Phil Watson the big Scarborough No8 managed to get ball in hand and with a strong run broke through 3 tackles. It appeared as though the last line of defence had done its task in stopping the score, but Watson had other ideas as he reached out to find the line with the touchdown. Harrison converted from in front of the posts to put Scarborough into a 5-10 lead.
Once more from the restart Ribb caused Scarborough problems and almost from the kick Scarborough’s forwards lost the ball and Ribb ran it back through their backs fly half Moon started a move which appeared to be from the training ground, with miss passes, loops, inter-passing and overlaps which appeared to mesmerise the Scarborough defence.
On 22 minutes Moon made good ground before feeding his centre Watson, who like freed mercury ran with ease through the watching Scarborough backline and with hardly a hand laid upon him touched down between the posts. His guardian in the centre Davidson slotted the conversion to put Ribb back in front at 12-10.
Scarborough once more kicked off into the Ribb half and again caused concern as they pushed towards the line. However, Mr Smith once more spotted a Scarborough hand in the ruck blew for a penalty. Ribb took the opportunity of a quick tap and kicked up field, the defence was in disarray with both wings not reacting and having covered 60 metres Ribb managed to throw the opportunity away fumbling the ball 10 meters out.
For the rest of the half fitness within the Scarborough front line appeared to be an issue on a somewhat heavy pitch. On 30 minutes a good Scarborough break with again Jeffrey taking the lead in attack saw the ball moved and Sleep was tackled just short of the line. Had support been there from the watchers then the counter rucking of Ribb could have been nullified and maybe more could have been made of the opportunity. The rest of the first half appeared to be going nowhere, with both sides at times making numerous mistakes and cancelling each other out. Speculative passing by Harrison, missing men and the passes going astray did little to instil fear in the home side whilst Ribbs poor line kicking enabled Scarborough to seize attacking opportunities, but they lacked the killer finishing touch.
On 36 minutes, Harrison found himself in space in front of the Ribb posts and slotted a cleanly taken drop goal to once more edge Scarborough back into a 12-13 lead and give the travelling support of 7 some hope. This was short lived as on 40 minutes Ribb were awarded a penalty in the Scarborough half which Davidson slotted to give home advantage at the break 15-13. Harrison having missed a 35 metre drop goal by inches in injury time.
Half Time: 15-13
Ribb opened the second half with a missed attempt at a long range penalty. However, were soon awarded a further penalty for indiscipline by Scarborough on 48 minutes which was slotted from 42 metres to increase their lead to 18-13.
Ugly rugby continued to be the order of the day with multiple passes sent by telegraph and handling skills appearing to be forgotten. On 51 minutes, an off the ball scuffle ensued between Scarborough’s Ingham and Ribb’s substitute Nowell. This developed further once Nowell was seen to lash out with his boot. Raines and substitute Burgess appeared to get involved along with a number of Ribb players including one of their coaching staff who joined in the on field melee. This influenced the whole outcome of the match as referee Smith having seen what was happening, following a long talk to the captains produced a solitary yellow card for Scarborough’s Burgess.
With Scarborough down to 14 men for a 10 minute period, Ribb pressed the advantage and only resolute defence by the Scarborough side with Else, Watson, Purdy and Jeffrey to the fore kept the home side from scoring for 9 of those minutes. Unfortunately for Scarborough following a great break out of defence by Raines ably assisted by Purdy the ball was lost in the Ribb 22. A huge up field punt with the wingers up flat saw the ball bounce between the last line of defence and a lucky bounce put it in the hands of the solitary Ribb chaser Watson who had a clear run to the line from 25 metres out. With 60 minutes gone Davidson converted to extend the lead further to 25-13.
Scarborough suffering from fatigue following such a staunch defensive display when down to 14 men, were nearly further behind on 64 minutes. Following good cross field cover by Jeffrey and Raines, Ribb failed to capitalise on a good break and managed to pass forward when 5 metres from the Scarborough line. Mr Smith brought the game back to an earlier penalty for offside which Davidson slotted from 38 metres on the left, 28-13.
Having recovered their composure Scarborough then produced their finest period in the game. Attacking at every opportunity Scarborough spotted the weaknesses in the Ribb defence. On 68 minutes following a well executed scissors move Ratcliffe found himself in the clear and romped over the line on the left. Harrison converted to bring Scarborough back into the game at 28-20.
Continuous attack by Scarborough led to a further penalty award on 78 minutes wide on the left, which Harrison narrowly missed. Despite this set back Scarborough continued to press and were camped in the Ribb half causing the home support some distress. This was justified in the 79th minute when following a 5 metre scrummage a quick ball to James saw his dart through a number of forwards and half hearted tackles to score by the posts. Harrison again converted to bring Scarborough within a point at 28-27.
Scarborough needed good fortune from the kick off but Ribb defended well and held out for a very nervous victory. As Mr Smith blew the final whistle there was great relief for the home supporters and players and disappointment for the Scarborough team having shown how they could play in the last ten minutes. Scarborough players will be looking in the mirror asking themselves how this one got away.
Scarborough: James Sleep Ratcliffe Jeffrey Baird Harrison Rollinson Lowde Williams Cutino Else Ingham(c) Purdy Raines Watson Substitutes: Burgess, Tite and Readman (all used).
North Ribblesdale: Chapman Allsopp Davidson Watson(c) Bolland Moon, Fox, Newhouse Stubbs Thwaite Corner Stacey Dakin Heap Carr Substitutes: Lynn Nowell Homes (all used).
Joint Man-of-the-match: Luke Raines and Graeme Jeffrey.
Man-of-the-match was a difficult call as there was not an out and out star on the day. As joint men of the match: Luke Raines was the pick of the forwards with his strong running and never say die attitude, he just nudged ahead of Purdy and Else who both provided steel within the forwards. Graeme Jeffrey was the pick of the backs with solid defence, strong hard running and his coverage of the field. This put him ahead of Rollinson who had one of his better days but does need to have more self confidence and use his pace to attack.
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