North Ribblesdale 20 v 14 West Park Leeds (Yorkshire League Two)
Following a summer of changes which has seen the club welcome a new President in Andrew Mills, whilst Ian Close has become the clubs new first team captain and Carl Patterson has taken over the role of first team player coach.
Carl Patterson’s first game in charge last weekend at Old Grivons finished in victory as North Ribblesdale welcomed West Park Leeds to Grove Park this weekend for their first home game of the season, which also saw the clubs longest-serving player John Thwaite start his thirty-sixth consecutive season.
North Ribblesdale started the stronger of the two sides in what turned out to be a game of two halves, the home side played some excellent rugby in the first-half as they pinned the visitors deep inside their own twenty-two. It wasn’t long before the home side got on the scoreboard as John Padley finished off an excellent move to score and give the home side a 5-0 lead following a missed conversion.
North Ribblesdale continued to press and extended their lead midway through the half, as the ball was collected by Ryan Sumner at the back of a line out and he quickly turned and went over the line to make the score 10-0, Michael Thwaite added the conversion to make the score 12-0 to North Ribblesdale.
The visitors got more into the game in the final ten minutes in terms of possession of the ball, however it was the home side that added to the scoreline with a Michael Thwaite penalty, to add a further three points to make the half-time score 15-0.
West Park Leeds management team must have read the riot act at half-time because the visitors came out for the second-half like a new side, they put pressure on the home side straight from the kick-off which lead to Jack Brown going over for a try in the fist five minutes. before Callum Smithson added the conversion to make the score 15-7.
Once the visitors had pulled a try back, North Ribblesdale did show their passion to win the game as they held off a Leeds attack just five yards from their line for about five or six minutes. However as the half progressed it was the visitors who continued to play some excellent rugby, forcing the home side into errors, but they failed to take advantage of the possession until later in the game.
The home side managed to score a third try midway through the second-half to extend their lead to 20-7, but again the conversion was missed which give the visitors more encouragement as they continued to put the pressure on the home side.
As the game entered the final stages, Oscar Hall managed to get free before attracting three Ribblesdale players over for the tackle, Hall then feed the ball to Callum Smithson who beat the final man to score before putting over the conversion to make it 20-14. This lead to a nerves final few minutes but the home side held on to win.
The victory leaves North Ribblesdale second in the Yorkshire Division Two league table with a trip to Wetherby Rugby Union Club next Saturday as Carl Patterson squad look to continue their winning start to season.
Match Details
North Ribblesdale – Patterson, Frick, Moore, Kaup-Samuels, M.Thwaite, Cook, M.Close, I.Close, Lynn, Booth, A.Thwaite, Padley, Fromm, Sumner, J.Thwaite, Middleton, Howarth
West Park Leeds – Cromack, Brown, Knowles, Hall, Harrison, Smithson, Obbotson, Michael, Rowe, Rodgers, Booth, Pearson, Gamble, Dickinson, Lee, Baker, Forester, Thompson
Tries – (Ribblesdale) Padley, Sumner, Fromm (West Park Leeds) Brown, Smithson
Penalty – (Ribblesdale) M.Thwaite
Conversion – (Ribblesdale) M.Thwaite (West Park Leeds) Smithson (2)
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