NORTH Ribblesdale went into their match against Ilkley with a definite strategy which involved utilising the power of their pack to keep the ball away from the home back line.

It was a plan which worked for 90 per cent of the game, with Ribblesdale having the lion's share of possession and territory.

Unfortunately for the Dalesmen, Ilkley scored with virtually every piece of possession they were able to obtain and were not afraid to run the ball from anywhere on the pitch, wingman Dan Nulty scoring three long-range tries, two covering the full length of the pitch.

On a fine day and a firm pitch, Ilkley kicked off and put Ribblesdale under pressure for 10 minutes, but they were unable to penetrate the defence and the visitors gradually got the upper hand.

Driving play by the forwards and inside centre Korsten Kriel took play into the Ilkley 22 and they were able to camp there for several minutes.

The shape of the match was established when, from a retreating Ilkley scrum, the scrum-half moved the ball to the left on his own line for Nulty to run 80 yards for a try at the posts that was duly converted by Anthony Cadman, who went on to collect 17 points.

This score energised the Ilkley pack and they had their only dominant period of the game as they took the ball into the Ribblesdale half and exerted pressure which brought them another two penalties from Anthony Cadman and a 13-0 lead.

At that stage it seemed that Ilkley were going to run away with the match, but the Settle side showed their resilience to hit back with an Adam Whaites penalty.

The fly-half then supplied a long, high kick, flanker Ryan Kirkbride was underneath to knock it back to the Ribblesdale support and Andrew Bradley, Korsten Kriel and Stuart Evans drove towards the posts, Evans eventually forcing his way over for Whaites to add the conversion and put the visitors back in the game.

The Ilkley pack were now under severe pressure, with Ribblesdale's powerful mauling and rucking driving the ball deep into the home half.

An astute kick by Whaites took play to the Ilkley line and from a scrum, Gemmell did the spadework for Russell Howarth to dive over and put his side ahead.

The threat of livewire Nulty, however, was always present and he struck again before the interval.

Once again the visitors won a position in the home 22, but when the ball was moved wide, a loose pass was picked off by Nulty, who again had the pace to cover the length of the pitch for another try at the posts.

This proved to be a crucial blow to Ribblesdale hopes, for although they continued to dominate up front, the Ilkley pack started to give a better account of themselves, especially at the set scrums.

Despite the setback, Ribblesdale were still well in the game and dominated territorially, but with a greater share of possession, the home fly-half was able to release his backs more frequently and they troubled the Ribblesdale defence on several occasions, the next telling raid coming when Nulty was again freed from a penalty move and his pace did the rest to set up an easy conversion.

Even after this setback the visitors refused to concede, but they were penalised several times as they pressed the Ilkley line, the sin binning of Michael Carr proving a major handicap.

During his absence, Ilkley collected two further tries, a conversion and a penalty to lead 42-15, Ribblesdale having the last word when Howarth again scored after good work at the lineout and Whaites goaled.