NORTH Ribblesdale opened their league campaign against old adversaries Ripon, and it was the latter that ran out 15-7 winners.

Both very young sides, both teams started at a frenetic pace and looked to make advantage of their width at every opportunity.

After the first quarter Ribbs’ forwards made ground from the second phase ball going deep into the 22. They won a penalty, kicked for the corner, won the lineout and were held up over the line.

This happened again after 30 minutes with the same result. The stalemate wasn’t broken until the last play of the half when several drives for the line were repelled until impressive second row Adam Middleton barged over.

Youngster Callum Mathew added the extras to give the hosts a 7 - 0 interval lead.

The second half was a repeat prescription of the first with Ribb marginally on top. Mathew kicked a penalty and Ryan Sumner scampered over from 20 metres for a converted try to give Ribb a 15-point lead.

Ripon never stopped trying and their efforts were rewarded with a late try from Veitch converted by Proud to give a well-earned home victory, 15 – 7.

This was an impressive opener for a young Ribb team under the new coaching tutelage of Tom Davidson. Many impressed with backs Jack Hutchinson, Ben Coultherd and Simon Bolland just about the pick. An impressive beginning but there will surely be harder tasks ahead.