546 days had passed since the Old Crossleyans second string were last seen in action. A 14-game winning streak, suspended, due to government restrictions meant that the usual Saturday morning regime had changed somewhat. The return to action was not met with a flurry of hands readying themselves for selection. Instead, several work absentees, holidays and first team unavailability’s meant that the Crocs travelled with a somewhat different side to the one that left the field at Aldwinians 18 months ago. It was clear it would take a serious effort to continue the winning streak, pleasingly, that’s exactly what transpired.

The sunshine in Halifax was contrasting to the weather in the Yorkshire Dales. Instead, a constant drizzle descended about an hour before kick off and never stopped throughout the game. This led to a greasy playing surface and ball alike making handling conditions difficult. This led to a stop start affair in the opening ten minutes, this became a theme for the rest of the match. Crocs were encouraged early in the piece by making consistent ground with some tight carries from the pack. However, strong counter rucking from ‘Ribb’ meant that possession was turned frequently, preventing the Crocs from ‘going through the phases’. Jamie Highley on his second team debut at Scrum Half coped well with a scrappy breakdown area, ensuring his service to fellow debutant at fly half, Aaron Horner, was consistently excellent all game. Horner used deft hands to good effect whenever Crocs had the ball and kicked out of hand wisely to gain further control over the game as the match went on. However, possession was at a premium for Crocs and most of the first half was spent in defence. Matthew Schoffield was consistently a thorn in Ribb’s attack with a high tackle count and great line speed meaning that Crocs nullified much of the home sides attacking threat. Veteran Ryan Price rolled back the years with some gritty tackling but unfortunately was victim of the first injury of the season, popping a rib after 25 minutes. Sam Holmes and Callum Peel quashed the home sides attempts to make headway around the base of the ruck. Peel using his weight to full effect in driving back the opposition. It appeared that the sides would switch ends without a score being registered. Crocs certainly would’ve been pleased to go in all square having repeatedly prevented Ribb from making any line breaks. However, an attempted clearance from Brad Clarkson was charged down, the ball popping up into the hands of the home sides flanker, who dotted down under the post. 7-0 at the break.

The second half saw a change of tactic from the travelling side. It appeared that Crocs were somewhat fitter than their opponents and took the opportunity to turn the home pack around with some excellent territorial kicking from Horner and Clarkson. This meant that although still without the ball for long periods, Crocs spent most of the second period inside North Ribblesdale’s half. James Cooper and Jacob Murphy continued to take on much of Crocs’ defensive work and the momentum began to shift towards the away side. However, handling errors and a couple of missed opportunities meant that the chance to get on the scoreboard was dwindling. Another debutant, Fred Woodhouse made a scything break into the Ribb half, leaving defenders for dead until being dragged down by the home sides full back, the offload just missing the hands of the impressive Connor McCloughlin. Steven Riley on the opposite wing had seldom chances to get his hands on the ball, instead busying himself with some excellent defensive work. It appeared that time was running out as Crocs turned the ball over inside their own 22. Clarkson spotted an opportunity seeing space behind the home side. A skilful chip saw the ball bounce high on the firm surface, Jack Brown hurtled towards the ball at speed grasping the ball away from the Ribb full back. Brown got his head down and went 60 metres to score under the posts, Clarkson making no mistake with the conversion, leaving the game poised at seven a piece with only five minutes left on the clock. Crocs had all the momentum and used it well to get field position inside the Ribb half. Patient ball retention meant that the away side had worked their way in front of the posts, just outside the Ribblesdale 22. Clarkson, intelligently sat deep in the pocket as Highley delivered a perfect pass. A sweetly struck drop goal from 30 metres out sailed through the posts, much to the delight of Crocs players and supporters alike. With a minute on the clock, the job was not yet done. As had been for most of the game the Crocs had to defend resiliently inside their own half. Dogged defence on their own try line saw Matthew Schoffield force a penalty to the away side, jubilation met the resulting kick into touch from Horner to end the game.