Ilkley 26 North Ribblesdale 32

Ilkley failed to lay the North Ribblesdale bogey as their unbeaten home record came to an end.

The men in blue from Settle took the honours as they showed that their win over Huddersfield YMCA was no flash in the pan.

A large crowd of lunch guests and Christmas shopping escapees were present to see the home side slip to their third defeat in a row.

At least they ended up with two bonus points which keep them in third place in the table behind Driffield and YMCA.

England forwards coach Graham Rowntree had graced a sleet-swept training session on Thursday evening but clearly his work did not include tackling practice. Ribb’s young side, the majority of whom had come through their successful junior section, cut ribbons through Ilkley's defensive lines in the first quarter as they were pinned down in their own 22 and hardly visited the Rib half at all.

There is probably a subtle equation to assess whether this superiority was due to bad defence or good attack. To Ilkley eyes it looked horribly like the former.

To Ribb and neutral eyes it looked like scintillating attack spearheaded by the Davidson brothers at centre and full back.

The younger brother Robbie, still at school, was almost unstoppable and it was his unchallenged weaving run that produced their first try after just two minutes which was converted by Jonathan Richards.

Winger Simon Bolland added the second try with an equally unchallenged run from halfway to score. Young Davidson kicked the conversion and a penalty to make it 17-0 with just 20 minutes gone.

When Ilkley finally exerted some pressure they scored two converted tries.

First second row Kris Stafford scored after good pressure from a line-out, then skipper Iain McKenzie scored from a repeat move. Both tries were converted by Tom Collard.

The Dalesmen reverted to first- quarter mode at the start of the second half and quickly conceded two penalties.

One of Robbie Davidson’s kicks hit the post, the other split them to increase the lead to six points.

Ilkley eventually picked up their game and were pressing the Rib defensive line.

Just as it looked like they might break through an unnecessary penalty was conceded in an attacking position.

It allowed the ever-enterprising Rib to take a quick one and set Robbie Davidson off on another fantastic run through an almost non-existent Ilkley defence to add another long-range try.

More indiscretions in the tackle and ruck area allowed Rib back into the Ilkley 22.

Several excellent phases resulted in a great try for flanker Nathan Dakin which extended the North Ribblesdale lead to 32-14. Perhaps it was youthful inexperience, perhaps it was Ilkley suddenly realising they had a side capable of taking on the young turks from Settle, but the tide turned.

Wave after wave of attacks followed and tries from McKenzie and Collard plus one conversion, reduced the deficit to 32-26.

With two minutes to go, Ilkley almost snatched victory. They took a quick penalty inside their own 22 and swept upfield, but North Ribb just kept them out.

The exuberance of youth had won the day. Now Ilkley visit fourth-placed Wath on Saturday.