Had the playing membership of the substantial travelling contingent of Riponians to Pontefract partaken of the delightful pie and peas before Saturday’s game, the result might well have been different. Abstinence however, of all such homely and welcoming things and a total focus on the playing matters, clearly yielded the right result. The pre-match hospitality was a hearty and very welcome facility for those choosing to brave the Arctic winds, temperatures and threats of all sorts of precipitation. It was sure to warm the cockles of the coldest heart and equip the spectators with the fortitude to last the 80 minutes.

Not wishing to detract from the catering provided by the hosts, it was one of a number of strands of the superb hospitality rarely experienced these days in a number of clubs. From the generous welcome for players and officials, to the pre-match entertainment for spectators, as well as the spirit in which the game was played and the post-match deliberations, Pontefract must rank as one of the better places to travel to and for Rugby playing values that many may aspire to.

Again, this was a week in which pre-match planning and preparation were key to ensuring that with despite nearly half of the team travelling separately and many directly, there was plenty of time to get organised and take to the field determined to give a good account of themselves. A good account is certainly what Ripon achieved and despite the overwhelming pundits’ opinions that this would be a high scoring winner for the hosts, Ripon coolly and calmly played their game and came out credible and credit worthy winners. Clearly the efforts of the squad members and the coaching team, in both the indoor and outdoor training options, are yielding results. Up there is the developing team spirit, with a real camaraderie emerging and of course the commitment to “Ripfit”, which is making a real difference to players’ overall fitness levels. It should also be noted that competition for 1st XV positions has never been keener, with more players than in the last two seasons to choose from and many training well and consistently. This may well pose a dilemma for selection, but demonstrates that the current success of the playing strength of the club continues, with three sides fielded each week and results generally going in favour of Ripon.

This was a game pretty much of two halves, in which Pontefract played as much to their strengths as they could and gained sufficient momentum to win the first half by five points. The second half however, saw Ripon develop a dominance at the scrum not witnessed for a while and an effective line out throughout, both of which provided ample ball to attack at will. It also showed a developing maturity to get organised in defence and work on doing the right thing with possession. Credit to Pontefract in that they used their experience to limit options and defensively, shut out many attacks. The difference though and Ripon have been on the wrong side of this so many times, was that if you can’t win your own scrum put in comfortably, the options become very limited.

Ripon kicked off into a slight breeze, which offered the home team some options for their kicking game. However, from the kick off, Ripon pressed through Leeming, Findlay and Britton, who made a nuisance of themselves at each of Tim Tombling’s restart kicks thereafter. With a series of back pedalling movements, the home side found themselves in all sorts of difficulties. A Ripon transgression however, gave Ponte a penalty opportunity which they kicked to touch. Oates for Ripon scrabbled the ball back for a counter-attack back into the home half. Two successive breakdowns saw effective carrying moves by Newcombe and Plant, before unleashing the backs. Harry Cleary took a perfectly weighted pass from Spilman to waft through the defence to touch down for Ripon’s opening score and his 10th in his first season of adult Rugby. Into the wind and from a difficult angle, Tombling was just short of the conversion attempt.

From the restart, Ripon pressed again and held the home side firmly in their own half. At 14 minutes a penalty for not releasing in the tackle, gave Ponte a chance to break out. A touch kick to the left, followed by a quick line out ball off the top, released the home backs for the first time. A mis-judgement in Ripon’s backs saw them follow the ball carrier rather than the danger men outside and when the pass was floated out to the Ponte right wing, he ricocheted in off four tackles to open the home scoreboard. The touchline conversion with the wind went over effortlessly.

Not to be outdone on the kicking front, Ripon restarted with another text book kick from Tombling, which hung tantalisingly over the indecisive Ponte receivers. Seeking no further invitation, Ripon’s Tom Leeming streaked through the ponderance of potential catchers, to leap like a salmon, take the ball in the air at full stretch and make some 20 metres before anyone caught up with him from either side. Play progressed from there with Ripon using runners off the ball to good effect. From a breakdown at around the 20-minute mark, Ripon’s Walker broke from the base and set up two further forward drives before again unleashing the backs for some clever inter play between Cleary and ever present Euan Findlay to gift Ben Buckley with his 7th 1st XV try of the season. Tombling made no mistake of the conversion this time to nudge Ripon in front again.

Caught on the hop from the restart, Ripon conceded some defensive errors and from some poor communications, allowed the Ponte right wing in for almost a carbon copy of his first try. This time the conversion attempt was too much for Ponte’s fly half Boyd. The next ten minutes saw some pretty hard slogging between both sides. Ripon seemed to be gaining the ascendancy in the scrums and Ponte looking to exert pressure by kicking into the corners. Boyd and Tombling exchanged another penalty each to push the score to 15 – 15 with five minutes to go to half time. Injured during the scoring of his earlier try, with the eventual loss of inspirational teenager Cleary at 35 minutes, Ripon hastily re-arranged the back line, bringing on utility player Rob Nicholson for a welcome return to the squad.

In the dying moments of the half, Ripon won a line out, but on the referee’s “not straight decision”, the scrum option was welcomed. Shunting Ponte off their own ball was a major coup for Ripon and the first of three takes against the head for stand in hooker, skipper Newcombe. Unfortunately, the attack that followed broke down to give the home side a turnover opportunity that they exploited perfectly. Again, the dangerous Ponte backs were given too much space and through poor marking and ineffective tackling, the Ponte full back streaked in to give his team the lead, the missed conversion attempt prompted the half time whistle, to give Ponte a one-try lead and Ripon something to think about.

From the restart of the second half, it was clear that Ponte wanted to play and in a 15-minute purple patch, they put Ripon under all sorts of pressure. The previously rock solid scrum was susceptible to the wheel a couple of times and pressure on scrum half McRobert conceded a penalty goal after only five minutes of the half. Tombling returned the honours at 12 minutes to narrow the home side’s lead to only five points again and things started to steady down again.

In a planned substitution and with 20 minutes of the half played, Dom Dalby came on for club stalwart Adam Scott Paul at tight head prop and from then on, anything Pontefract had to offer in the scrums, was history. The last 20 minutes saw a dramatic resurgence in Ripon’s confidence to play on and off the ball, set piece and loose and to test the opposition seriously in all departments. This was all in the context of Ripon respecting Pontefract’s former Yorkshire One status and the Ripon’s lack of success in recent outings. An increasingly dominant scrum however, saw further probes close in and wide to test the home defence and work through Ripon’s options. Such cohesive pressure saw a Ripon penalty touch kick result in a catch and drive that plunged over the home line with an unsighted touchdown for the referee. Ensuing scrums saw two penalties for Ripon and at 31 minutes, electing for a penalty scrum, the mightiest shove seen for a long time from a Ripon pack, drove the hosts back over their line for Kier Walker to touch down for the team’s first pushover try in a long time. Tombling made no mistake of the conversion to put Ripon into a two-point lead.

The final ten minutes were not as nail biting as one might imagine. As both sides tightened up their acts, there seemed little prospect of either side scoring and so a battle of attrition was slogged out, with Ripon dominating the scrums and Pontefract seeking any opportunity to break out. Neither side seemed capable of breaking out and both defences held firm. In winning this encounter, Ripon whilst not complacent by any means, must seek some comfort in being in a very different place from the previous few seasons.

In a concerted team effort, it’s difficult to pick out individuals. However, with skipper Adam Newcombe, showing character, flexibility and commitment; standing in at hooker again, he must take some praise. Not only was his leadership of the team without question, but positionally, he took three strikes against scrum put ins and threw into the line out impeccably. Tom Stringer, unleashed at flanker for the first time this season, showed a pace and aggression in attack and defence way beyond his years. In the backs, Tim Tombling gave the team the benefit of his consistent kicking game, as well as his pace and ability to set the back line moving. Last word is for Mark Spilman, who organised well in attack and defence, tackled like a demon and timed the release of his outside support to great effect.

After a well-deserved week’s break from league action, Ripon entertain another of the Division’s top three sides, Roundhegians on Saturday 5th December. Kick off at home is 2.15 and all support is very welcome.