Excellent Ribb

North Ribbelsdale 21 Ashington 0

Ashington came into this game in deep trouble and unfortunately for them relegation now seems to be the likely outcome of the season with the Dalesmen registering a convincing victory, writes Trevor Graveson.

Ribb thoroughly deserved their success following a rather conservative first half display with a second period that contained some excellent rugby and in the final analysis the home side will feel that they could have won by a more decisive margin.

The bad weather caused the late withdrawal of Ribb favourite Alan Thwaite, but Steven Heal came in and performed creditably - indeed with each game at senior level he looks increasingly comfortable.

The game began in a heavy snow shower blown on a strong wind that was whistling down from the clubhouse end and Ribb had first use of the elements.

They immediately pushed play down into the Ashington '22' and almost got an instant reward when flanker Michael Carr went over the line from Neil Gemmell's quickly taken tap penalty, but the defence held him up to prevent the try.

Ashington found it impossible to lift the pressure - indeed they made a substantial contribution to their own downfall with constant indiscipline. Initially Ribb used the boot of Stuart Towns to find touch, choosing to use Antony Capstick's lineout superiority as the base from which to attack and that worked well enough but only to a certain extent as Ashington's defence around the fringes was good.

Then a change in thinking saw John Hughes given the chance to kick for goal and although his first penalty attempt was badly miscued the second was straight and true to give Ribb the lead. But for 15 minutes of pressure this was scant reward. Nevertheless the home supporters' nerves were soon settled by the first try. It came when Ashington were caught in possession following a Ribb kick and the mobile home pack then produced quick ruck ball which was spun wide and Sean Kennedy gave the scoring pass to Gareth Evans.

Ribb continued in the ascendancy with the visitors making only infrequent incursions into home territory, and when play settled in the Ashington half again Kennedy took over the kicking duties and his penalty made the half-time score 11-0 in favour of the Dalesmen.

As expected Ashington began the second half by using the wind, but Evans dealt with a couple of hoisted kicks decisively and the visitors began to attack through their big pack.

However Ribb's defence was rock solid with Gordon Throup, Phil Pawson and Dave Bryant all excelling in this area.

By now the Ashington scrum was under threat despite a weight advantage that must have equated to at least a stone a man and the visiting front row were not amused as John Thwaite at tight head for Ribb caused some disruption.

The Settle team now began to put some fluidity into their play moving the ball wide and supporting well to put together some good quality handling moves, and the policy of keeping the ball in hand paid dividends as Evans went rampaging through for his second try of the afternoon. Ashington were now somewhat disillusioned and when John Moore, who incidentally had a tremendous all-round game, went to ground in the tackle two of the visiting pack saw the opportunity to put the boot in. By the time Moore got up the main culprit had seen the red card and was on his way off, setting the seal on his side's fate.

With the game now moving into its final quarter Ribb continued to move the ball and good handling put winger Simon Spensley clear on halfway, apparently finishing with some speed for a stylish score. But reality soon dawned as the referee was drawn back to a touch-judge who was standing upfield with flag raised, incurring the considerable wrath of spectators in that area who were convinced that Ribb had been denied a legitimate try.

However that disappointment was soon forgotten as the home side signed off with a superb try, initiated by a galloping charge from the outstanding Capstick and then the ball being transferred via several players to Chris Wallbank who scored on the right. Both second half conversions went astray but it did not matter because Ribb were streets ahead in rugby ability and they had won well enough, registering their eighth league victory of the season.

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