Match Report Sunday 23 February 2020
North Ribblesdale RUFC U16s vs Moortown RUFC U16s
Played at Eshton Pitch, Giggleswick
With winter storms Ciara and Dennis having finished dumping water, and with a switch of venue to the Eshton pitch in Giggleswick (Moortown being still unable to offer a playable pitch after two postponements) Ribb and Moortowngot down to the business of the Yorkshire Plate semi-final. Freddie Spensley kicked off to the right, the catcher taking solidly under pressure from Will Clay. A wind assisted kick return pegged Ribb back to the 22m line with a lineout. The same wind pushed a throw that was true when it left Angus Ogden’s hands wickedly out of line, leaving the referee no option but to offer Moortown the scrum. A sharp scum sent the ball down the Moortown backs, Ollie Drew thumping in a great tackle to bring the ruck. Harris Dinsdale, Matty Garth, and Callum Mathew did likewise in successive Moortownphases as Ribb set out an impressive defensive stall. Possession was turned over as Harry Mathew ripped the ball in a tackle and Leo Walkden squirted the ball to FreddieS to kick up field, the fullback again showing confidence in the catch. Dan Wills had sprinted after the kick and was able to pen Moortown back with an excellent tackle. When Moortown kicked the ball back, Ben Coultherd was able to do so much more, following a secure catch, as he cut through theMoortown defence from fullback eventually being grabbed by his scruff on the way past another otherwise beaten defender. Leo played in Harris and Harry for a bit of impromptu wing work, before the ball went just a little too far in front of Freddie Fairweather-Smith. Scrum Moortown. Tackling in the Ribb backs was accurate but being unable to roll away from the contact Ribb conceded a penalty that was kicked to touch. Moortown’s attempt to pass a short lineout (a good idea, given the wind) fell afoul of not going the full 5m, Harry electing to take a scrum. Despite a good feed the Moortown hooker was able to sneak the ball but good alertness in the backs sent Moortown backwards with the ball they’d won and when the maul collapsed the scrum was Ribb’s. Different scrum, same result except this time the ball exited through the tunnel so a rescrum was called. Third time lucky and the ball emerged from the back of the scrum for Ribb but a slippy pass from Leo gave Ollie plenty of work to do to collect from the floor and drive into the Moortown defence. Leo’s next pass was better, into Will’s breadbasket, and only a high tackle stopped him from making more progress. FreddieS hoofed the penalty into touch 5m from the Moortown try line. Law 18 (concerning the Lineout) subsection 20 states that players must not jump or be lifted of supported before the ball has left the hands of the player throwing in (sanction free kick). Despite Moortown having a player lifted into the air seconds before Gus’s throw, this law was ignored. All the more galling when the Moortown player tapped the ball back. Probably a better tactic for the Ribb thrower to await the return to Earth of the opposition premature ejector, and then carry on as planned. After a quick penalty from Moortown and some gritty defence from Ribb, FreddieS called a mark from a Moortown chip to intelligently calm things down in what had become a frantic 5 minutes. 10m from the left hand touch line, FreddieS sliced a kick to the right where FreddieFS was able to make it look planned. FreddieFS advanced in typically rapid fashion, but was then taken out as the defender over whom he had chipped decided to take it personally and tackle him anyway. FreddieFS still managed to get up and tackle the fullback so he couldn’t make progress, though. A predilection to be ignorant of certain infringements (early jumping in the lineout) was now augmented with offside as Moortowntwigged that the back foot of the ruck wasn’t really on the referee’s radar. In such a circumstance (persistent offside) one defence is to chip over the top and chase. FreddieS tried this, and with some success as the ever willing James Brabenderchased with gusto. On 15 minutes Gus delayed throwing a lineout until the Moortown jumper had landed and the terrific take from Harris set up a driving maul that made 10m before Leo span the ball out to FreddieS, and then onto a juggling Callum. Leo passed the next phase of ball to FreddieS who was met with a quite unsavoury (and unpunished) shoulder barge from a Moortown player. As play progressed, Ollie and Callum’s tackling in midfield was dominant and the team’s maturity in the face of the off-the-ball shoving, high tackling, and tediously persistent offside was a rewarding sight for coaches and parents alike. After 22 minutes, another offside Moortown defensive line was grubbered though by FreddieS, alarming the Moortown fullback to wellie it behind for a 5m scrum to Ribb. From the scrum, Dan, Adam, and Callum all had a bash at scoring but were repelled by mostly legal tackles. As conditions deteriorated and the hail came down, moments of standout quality were becoming less frequent. Max Sutcliffe had a good pickup and run, and Ben improvised a kick through from a team mate’s spilled ball to earn a 5m scrum but another one lost against the head put paid to hopes of a try before half time. With both teams committed and cancelling each other out, the half drew, pointlessly, to a close.
Moortown resumed the game with a kick that was pocketed well by Gus and driven into contact. Ribb rucked well, and FreddieS kicked a tumbling ball for the fullback to chase. His kick (with his entire team in front of him and, therefore, offside was caught by Ben who didn’t know where to run when faced with a team of offside players masquerading as being legally positioned. 3 minutes into the second half, Moortown elected to kick a penalty of unknown origin. As the wind dropped, and the sun shone, the Ribb crowd were relieved to see the effort pulled wide of the posts for a 22 drop kick restart that FreddieS pumped up field, and Dan and FreddieFS chased down. Although the weather had improvedalmost all of the play was still being conducted at close quarters with ruck blossoming from ruck. In an attempt to break the pattern, Moortown up-and-undered, only to knock the ball on massively (unpunished) in the attempted catch. And so play resumed. Shortly after Moortown attempted to spray the ball right, only to be hunted down by Harris, Dan, and the rest of the mobile Ribb pack and concede a penalty for failing to release after being tackled. Maybe they should have stuck with the close quarters rucking. FreddieS kicked to touch and at the resulting lineout Elliot Marklew had one of the round the corner short lineouts that has been so profitable (especially in windy conditions) in the past. Moortown were well prepared, though, and defended it only for a hilariously offside player to then concede a penalty at the next tackle. Dan cleverly took a quick tap and barged into contact with support from Harry, Matty, and Harris. FreddieFS gave the next phase to Adam Dunwell who was uncharacteristically isolated as he went into contact. Thank goodness then for Matty who cleared out two ball-grabbing Moortown players like one of Virgo’s trickshots. It is from this possession that Ribb were awarded a penalty within FreddieS range that he duly converted. 3-0 to Ribb after 10 minutes of the second half.
Moortown hoped to catch Ribb unawares (or at least resting on laurels) but thankfully the boys had learnt from previous experiences and were back in position to cover the restart. Moortown’s eagerness to respond was met with FreddieSkicking Ribb back up field. As Ribb talent in the lineout (Harris) was allowed to shine without illegal early jumpingopposition, so Moortown’s ignorance of the offside line started receiving official punitive remediation, albeit only after the referee had explicitly pointed out to Moortown that they were standing offside before they proceeded to tackle from that position. FreddieS’s monstrous kicking up field was also quite handy in relieving the pressure Moortown sought to build. Though neither side could find an advantage, nor were they making mistakes. Profit was sought in departures from the norm, and Tom Valentine had to be alert to shepherd a cross field kick into touch after a period of sustained rucking.It is a gift of the back row that they have the latitude to roam and smash. Adam, Harris, and Dan were entering a purple patch of the game as every Moortown breakdown was due to one or more of their efforts. As the clock ticked over to 15 minutes to play, Will and Jack Walker re-entered the fray, Jack in the number 8 role, his eagerness and alertness clear to see. Shortly after FreddieFS was unlucky not to be better rewarded, or at least be given a penalty, as his predatory instincts snaffled a loose ball only for him to be hauled back by its previous custodian from a kneeling position. Play was stopped, briefly, for the referee to have a second word with the Moortown captain to ask if he could possibly encourage his players not to commit so many neck tackles (and neck rolling, to boot) after another horrible challenge on Elliot. That it had been allowed to happen all through the game was testament to weak player management but also, and more commendably, to the great discipline of the Ribb players. This transgression resulted only in a kickable penalty that just faded before the ball got to the posts. Tom collected the 22 drop kicked restart and piled straight into thumping contact.Both sides were now replaying all that had already happened in the game. High kicks were being confidently caught, tackles were being made, and handling was as secure as it needed to be given the stodgy running surface. Change nearly came in the 26th minute as FreddieFS dug out from a ruck for FreddieS to kick. The backpedalling Moortown defence managed to get in each other’s way and let in Callum. Sadly his hoof had too much on it and the ball went behind the in goal area before he or Leo could get to it.
As the stodgy pitch and high intensity combined to sap the players’ strength, so mistakes were beginning to creep in. Sometimes rugby’s laws were applied, sometimes they weren’t. It wasn’t just the players looking fatigued. Play was now ratcheting dangerously close to the Ribb try line. Some ground was regained as Callum put in a great tackle on a Moortown centre. Ollie, Jack, and Elliot were making grinding, vital tackles, asserting their dominance over the opposition. On 33 minutes, Tom had to gamble on coming inside to tackle, or staying wide to cover the 2 man overlap. He gambled, the tackle was good, and a startled Moortowncentre tossed the ball into touch for a Ribb lineout. A match that had started out as a maelstrom was now a crucible with hearts thumping and minds straining against the lactic burn being set aside for later. What had seemed a well executedlineout saw Ribb emerge with a driving maul that turned desperately into a Moortown scrum for a not straight lineout throw. Moortown went blind, Adam, Tom smashed, the whistle blew for a Moortown penalty. With 10 seconds left, Moortown lined up the kick from just inside the 22m line 10m in from touch, and saw the chance slice wide to preserve a fulltime score of 3-0 to Ribb. Men of the match Harris, and Adam.
