REPORT BY: DUNCAN BROWN
NORTH Ribblesdale travelled up to Wensleydale looking to continue their winning run on Saturday, and that's exactly what they did.
The hosts started well and took the game to the hosts from the off and only resolute defending kept them at bay.
However, the pressure finally told after good play in the opposition half; Adam Middleton spotting a gap in the home defence before galloping through to score, with Tom Davidson adding the conversion.
A mistake from the restart led to Wensleydale gaining good ground and from a line-out in the Ribb's 22, managed to breech the visitors line to level the scores.
A good period of pressure by from the visitors forced the hosts into two yellow cards for the home side in quick succession. This was quickly capitalised on with a fine cross-field kick from Will Davidson which was caught by Alex Dew, who crossed to score a converted try to make it 14-7 in favour of the visitors.
Ribb looked to capitalise on their two-man advantage but heroic defence and handling errors by Ribb saw no further score in the half.
The second half continued with Ribb on the front foot with Wensleydale's defence holding firm. Heavy rain started to cause problems with frequent handling errors and making the playing surface very slippery.
A good passage of play from Ribb took them deep into the home 22 and after several drives at the line a long pass to the prolific Ralph Wellock was expertly taken and touched down in the corner. The conversion was missed, making it 19-7 to the visitors.
The remainder of game was played in midfield with neither side being able to create anymore openings, and with the clock running down a Wensleydale forward was given a second yellow card for a high tackle and was sent off.
Ribb's squad is being severely tested with injuries mounting, up but with no game next weekend it will give them chance to rest-up ahead of the final home league game on April 5 against West Leeds.
