Going by dictionary definitions, this was pretty close – a persistent, continuous, strident discord, that summed the frustrations faced by Ripon, as perhaps their toughest opponents in a while Dinnington, did everything in their power to stop The Blues from playing. Much goodness came from Ripon’s concerted efforts, with perhaps two of the best tries of the season in one game and as solid day with the boot from Bray, with a personal count of thirteen points to take his tally for the season to date to a very creditable 209 points in nineteen league games.

Never a team to underestimate and with a playing ability that belies their lowly league position, Dinnington delivered to expectations and proved relentlessly tough opponents. Whilst Ripon had the edge in the set piece and gave their opposition a torrid time in the scrums, the heftier visitors made their pounds count in the close quarter work and used their driving maul and pick and go tactics to good effect. Overall, Dinnington strung together some more persistent and well-structured plays than The Blues have been creating of late but at the end of the day, it was Ripon’s resilience and discipline that saw them through. Defensively the “Blue Wall” looked in need of shoring up on occasions and in attack, Ripon’s key strike players didn’t penetrate as effectively as they have done recently. Sterling efforts from the likes of Newcombe and Graham, made good ground when needed and man of the match, the recently recalled Tom Hesmondhalgh was an inspiration at Blind Side, with a gritty and ferocious contribution at every phase of the game.

Hopes of a bonus point win for Ripon were thwarted as they had more attacks repulsed by the doughty visitor’s defence and scoring options were restricted to the two converted tries and two penalty goals. Dinnington in all fairness, made more of their possession with their three tries and came close to a try bonus on a couple of occasions and even got a sniff at victory in the final quarter, but for a last-minute revival by The Blues to take the win. Settling for just the four league points, Ripon are now out of the title race and remain in third place with 71 points. The only threat is now left from fourth placed Yarnbury at one point behind but Ripon still looking to celebrate their highest league finish in many a year and the prospect of much more to come with the basis of a squad with a few more years left in most of them.

This week’s selection saw changes in single figures yet again and would have been just five differences from the last game, were it not for the late withdrawal of Liam Wood after failing a pre-match fitness test. In the backs, Steve Youngson, who was recalled for this week’s bench was elevated to Full Back and inject his blistering pace to the counter attack. Tom Graham was the usual fixture on the Right Wing, with a powerful presence in all phases and racking up his twelfth try of the season with an awe-inspiring 75 metre dash that left the opposition for dead. The versatile Matt Binks opened his game on the Left Wing before covering at Scrum half for the injured Max Marston from the end of the first quarter. The late removal of Wood from the side, saw the exciting prospect of the Centre pairing of Will Barrett and Tom Senior bringing youth and pace to the fray. Mikey Bray put in another virtuoso performance at Number 10, kicking well from the tee and from hand, as well as mixing it up carrying and tackling. Max Marston started at Scrum Half and was cruelly despatched before getting into his stride on 20 minutes, with a head injury.

Up front, George Evans and Dom Dalby at Prop, provided the necessary stability at scrum time and put in a Titanic effort with some hefty carries and even heftier tackles. Jordan “which direction” Payne completed the triumvirate at Hooker and after opening Ripon’s scoring with a fifth minute try, was an instrumental link in open play throughout. The second row saw skipper Iain Barker and Tom Roebuck together again for the third successive game. Barker’s consistent omnipresence around the breakdown helped limit the opposition’s options considerably and Roebuck’s spoiling tactics at the line out, as well as some good carries, made his contribution noteworthy. One change in the back row saw incoming Tom Hesmondhalgh give a typical sharp-shooting performance and no beating about the bush, with his no-nonsense approach in contact. Freddy Wharton acted every bit the County player he is at Open Side and as well as his tireless support play, delivered copious amounts of clean line out ball. Bringing up the rear, was Nick “Sad Yank” Perez, wiping away his tears and putting in his usual efforts at Number 8. This week’s finishers, included the mini-bomb squad of “Mack” Koroiyadi and Adam Newcombe to bolster anywhere in the pack and Charles Robinson, hastily recalled from the 2nd XV away game and add his elusive running skills to the mix.

The pre-match messaging was clear and concise this week, with the expectation that everyone would do their best, maintain discipline, up the work rate and with the performance bar set very high over the past few weeks, keep up the good work. The ground was going to be heavy and mercifully the rain held off for the duration of the match, so with sunny intervals and a cool breeze, the conditions were pretty good compared to recent Saturdays.

Dinnington kicked off deep and after passing through a couple of pairs of hands, Bray attempted to clear. The missed touch saw an immediate counter and the raised elbow in contact saw the visitors penalised and Wharton’s nose bloodied within 40 seconds. Clearing their lines more successfully, Ripon progressed towards the opposition’s half and through a communication breakdown, handed possession over without a struggle. On the back foot within a couple of minutes, Ripon succumbed to a series of penalty advantages, with Dinnington the quicker witted to keep the ball in play. On the three-minute mark, the pressure told and the visitors crossed the whitewash to open the scoring with an unconverted try for 0 – 5.

Amends were made quite swiftly and from a penalty for a high tackle, Ripon’s touch kick and line out option worked well for Wharton to feed off the top to get The Blues going out wide. The initial close support saw Evans and Dalby key to establishing the necessary go forward. Tom “Hesh” carried on at pace before introducing Payne to the movement. Wharton appeared again to carry on before feeding Payne again to touch down on five minutes. Bray’s conversion put Ripon in the lead at 7 – 5.

A flurry of attempted multi-phased attacks by both sides failed to gain traction, as repeatedly the Referee called a halt for illegal tackles and off side offences. Not one to criticise the elimination of dangerous play, some of the decisions however, were perhaps over-zealous and maybe more warnings around tackle height could have encouraged a more continuous game. On that point, with 32 penalties awarded overall, eighteen to the home and fourteen to the away side, whilst penalties do offer scoring options, they do however, reduce the options for a game to flow. Dinnington, despite conceding more penalties, did respond more swiftly and effectively to the opportunities they presented. Thus as the first quarter neared its ending, the visitors in an almost photocopy of their first try, used penalty advantages to good impact and touched down for their second. This time the conversion worked and Dinnington took the lead again at 7 – 12.

To add insult to injury, Ripon were pressing the visitors’ line on 29 minutes and the movement was brought to a halt with a penalty and yellow card for Senior for retaliation against foul play. Down to 14 men each, as the protagonist was also similarly dispatched, Ripon did well to adapt to the disruption and prevent any further line crossings. Credit has to go to the Ripon pack as the scrum performed fantastically against their heavier opponents and resulted in most of the Dinnington attacks being launched from the back foot. At 32 minutes, the pressure told and through a penalty goal, Dinnington increased their lead to 7 – 15. Down but not out, Ripon bucked up and through the introduction of Newcombe to freshen up the pack and inject some penetration in attack and found themselves threatening the Dinnington line again. An off-side offence gave Bray the opportunity to close the gap and with his penalty goal, did so for 10 – 12 with two minutes left to play. No respite though and from a final flurry from Dinnington, a breakdown offence by Perez gifted a further three points to the opposition to close the half at 10 – 15.

The second half saw Ripon looking to benefit from their famous, yet barely perceptible slope and with the wind shifting to cross field, had high hopes of redressing the balance and retaking the lead. Bray’s kick off was well received and Dinnington started to build up the phases gradually. Through clever handling and tight running, the visitors made their way up to halfway and then deeper into the home half. Reorganising swiftly on the hoof, Ripon repeatedly stopped their opponents in their tracks, only to see the ball recycled clinically and more pressure coming through. The lucky break came at the three-minute point and just inside the home 22, when the robust defence prompted a knock on from Dinnington out towards the touchline. Tom Graham pounced on the loose ball and bounced two would be tacklers out of the way before getting into his stride. Outpacing the cover defence, Graham pinned his ears back and ran the straightest route over three quarters of the pitch. With the slightest adjustment to his stride over the last 10 metres, Tommy stepped inside the Full Back to touch down to the shrill cheers of the crowd. Bray’s conversion restored the lead again to 17 – 15 and allowed Graham precious moments to regain his composure and his breath.

Following the next restart, Ripon looked to be gaining some momentum but that was soon short-lived after another breakdown penalty offence. The touch kick saw the visitors execute a traditional line out catch and drive and from four progressive thrusts towards the home line, were rewarded for their efforts with their third try with just five minutes of the second half played. The conversion attempt missed, but at 17 – 20, the lead changed hands yet again.

After a further five minutes another breakdown offence gave Bray the chance to break even and so he did with a sweetly struck penalty goal for 20 – 20. Ripon’s tails were definitely up at this point and through concerted efforts to force errors, towards the end of the second quarter, Bray nudged Ripon ahead for the third time at 23 – 20.

The final quarter saw both sides throwing everything they could at each other and a disproportionate third of the day’s penalty count dished out, as every law in the book seemed to be transgressed at some point. Ripon’s resolve stayed firm under some considerable pressure, as did Dinnington do their best to limit their hosts’ options. A scoreless final quarter, whilst disappointing for both sides and particularly for Ripon with their pursuit of that elusive try bonus; was a fair outcome from both sides. Everything including the kitchen sink got thrown into the last few minutes of play and no quarter was asked or given.

Some outstanding moments of the last few minutes included further line breaks by Newcombe and Graham; NFL style passing from Bray to attempt to unleash Robinson on the Wing and some general jubilation as the away scrum disintegrated. Each side denying the other the space or continuity to proceed to further scoring, the game thankfully fizzled out with a timely and accurate touch kick from Binks, who had proved a more than adequate replacement Scrum Half for threequarters of the game. Sighs of relief all round: for Ripon, no further threat to their sixth win on the trot and for Dinnington, the salvation of their losing bonus point. A hard-fought game that tested The Blues to the maximum, refined some areas of optimum performance, exposed some vulnerabilities to work from and gave the squad and coaching team much to build on.

With two games left to play now, Ripon will be looking to end the season on a high by maintaining their focus on discipline and work rate and of course restoring the Blue Wall defence to its rightful glory.

Next week Ripon leave the home comfort of Mallorie Park for their last league road trip of the season and travel to Middleton to take on Leeds Corinthians. Against a team languishing in the relegation zone and expected to put up a stern fight for survival, Ripon will have their work cut out to maintain their current string of successes. Kick off 3.00pm and all travelling support very welcome.