YORKSHIRE Two leaders Selby RUFC were brought down to earth in a surprise 15-11 defeat at Ripon.

The home side put plenty of passion in their play early on to build an 11-0 lead in the first quarter of the game.

Powerful second row Kevin Quigg crashed over for a try though stand-off Robbie Rua failed to convert.

The strong Ripon forwards kept up the pressure and were rewarded with a Rua penalty for offside.

Selby's cause was not helped when prop Dave Christison was forced to leave the field with a suspected broken thumb. He was replaced by veteran scrummager Mark Tomlinson.

On 20 minutes the men from Sandhill Lane got on the board when the home side were caught offside and Russ Dovey slotted over the penalty. From the restart, Selby kept up the pressure and were awarded a kick in front of goal, which Dovey sent wide.

Selby were struggling to clear their lines and clearly missed the consistency of injured stand-off Dan Porter. Matters worsened when scrum-half and stand-in skipper Matt Smith was sin-binned by referee Rob Staines for dissent, allowing Rua to stretch the lead with the resultant penalty.

Selby started the second half in determined mood and were nearly rewarded when good work by No 8 Wright Phillips set up Shaun Austerfield whose pass to winger Sam Weller was spilled.

Pressure was mounting on Ripon and, when they killed the ball, Dovey pegged back the score with a penalty.

Ripon's defensive line finally cracked as Austerfield crashed over, but Dovey's conversion attempt walloped against an upright.

The Mallorie Park men roared back in the closing stages and sealed victory when Selby were penalised for the reliable Rua to slot the ball between the posts.