Whether it was the divine intervention inspired by the pitch side presence of Canon Ruth Hind, or the monumental influence of the beefing up of the boiler house of the scrum, Ripon emphatically beat Knottingley, with purpose and style. Apart from a slack period in the third quarter that allowed the visitors to edge back into the game with two tries, Ripon controlled most phases of the game in a manner unseen so far this season and one that must only bode well for the future.

The bonus point, seven try bonanza has now lifted Ripon to seventh place in the league, with a healthy goal difference and the confidence to keep improving. With a scrum that moved forwards effortlessly thanks to the whole pack, to the extent that Ripon actually pushed the visitors off five of their own put ins, first phase possession was plentiful and provided a solid platform to release the "Top Gun" strike force of the teenage back division. The line out was again particularly effective, with the front five solid in their support and Flanker Oates just as athletic in the air as on the ground.

Ripon kicked off and immediately sought to keep the visitors in their own half. Forcing a penalty within three minutes, Ripon opted for the touch kick and from the ensuing line out, executed a perfect catch and drive. This took the home pack some 20 metres up-field before the driving maul saw Sam Britton burst from the melee to crash over the line from one metre out. Hooks at the end of his range narrowly missed the conversion attempt.

Knottingley kicked deep from the restart, but allowed Ripon to steadily progress back up-field through precise handling and close support play. At the ten minute mark a similar penalty opportunity arose and in a carbon copy of the previous effort, the line out catch and drive effortlessly moved a further ten metres before the visitors disrupted the flow. Two successive picks from the base of the ensuing rucks, saw a big space open up left field and slick, quick handling saw the ball swung wide for Full Back Ben Buckley to join the line at pace and touch down for Ripon's second try. Seemingly not wearing his lucky boots, Hooks narrowly missed the conversion attempt again.

The next ten minutes saw Ripon testing the visitor’s defence and them largely holding strong. Ripon in turn, organised and communicated well in defence when the visitors gained possession, but alarmingly showed a couple of chinks in their armour, with first up tackles being missed on occasion. The speedy home backs however, did well to recover the situations and keep the visitors at bay. At the 26 minute mark, with Knottingley pressing hard, Ripon were forced on to the back foot. From a handling error, Ripon were awarded a scrum around their 22 metre line. Comfortably winning the strike, the breakout started by Britton was carried on by Elliot Oates, who streaked through the midfield to take the ball into the visitors’ 22 metre area. A penalty followed from the tackler not rolling away and Hooks made no mistake of the goal kick to take the score to 13 – 0.

At 34 minutes, through more effective interplay, Ripon were offered a scrum put in on the Knottingley 22 metre line. Quick hands saw the ball spin left and after a massive miss pass, Ben Buckley sprinted in for his second try of the game and fifth of the season. Hooks was slightly wide again with the conversion. With time running out before the end of the half, Knottingley upped their game to remain in contention. From a line out, quick ball off the top was whipped out through their backs and a couple of missed tackles let their left wing in for an unconverted try. Not content with easing up, Ripon saw another resurgence in the dying seconds of the half and from the restart, moved the ball steadily towards the halfway line, which allowed Scrum Half Jake McRobert to set off on a blind side break that saw him outstrip the opposition for a 50 metre dash to score Ripon’s fourth and bonus point winning try. Hooks made no mistake of the conversion on the final whistle to end the half with Ripon comfortably in front at 25 – 5.

Determined not to roll over, Knottingley played with improved character in the third quarter and made Ripon defend for lengthy periods. At 6 minutes into the half, they actually crossed the Ripon line, but the Referee called them back for a penalty. A harsh decision, which apparently saw no advantage gained from a try under the posts compared to a penalty on the 15 metre line. Knottingley shunned the opportunity to go for goal and kicked for touch. The line out that followed was won well and the visitors initiated a driving and then rolling maul that took them over the Ripon line for the second time, this time however, with no clear sight of the ball being grounded. Offered a five metre defensive scrum, Ripon’s put in was gratefully snatched by Wolloms as the home pack shoved the visitors backwards at a pace to clear their lines momentarily. Ripon’s attempt to run out of defence was short lived and McRobert was forced to kick for touch. The clearance kick was charged down and let Knottingley in for a converted try.

Within five minutes, Knottingley were on the charge again and through more missed tackles set the space for their mobile Loose Head Prop to gather sufficient momentum to bulldoze Buckley out of the way to score in the corner. The try remained unconverted and that ended Knottingley’s contribution to the scoreboard for the day.

Entering into the final quarter, Ripon found their flow again and set about denying the visitors any further scoring opportunities and being more clinical in their finishing. Then followed two successive scrum wins, which set up an attack through Newby and Findlay and ended with a perfectly weighted pass to McDaniel flying in from Full Back to score Ripon’s fifth try, easily converted by Hooks. Next followed two almost identical patterns of play that saw over a period of ten minutes, successive line out wins for Ripon, effective catch and drives executed, two phases worked from successive breakdowns and tries scored by Stringer and McDaniel again, one converted by Hooks. Most impressive was Tom Stringer’s 50 metre dash down the right hand touchline after picking up a feed from a ruck on the halfway line. The whistle finally blew after seemingly ten minutes of injury time, with Ripon running out worthy winners at 44 – 17. Ripon are under no misapprehensions about the return journey to Knottingley later in the season, where their renowned home reputation will make for a more difficult contest.

Next week Ripon travel to Wath upon Dearne, for what promises to be an interesting game, with Ripon’s new found forward strength being a key factor in winning possession.