Following on from last week’s “not as bad as” theme, this week’s performance conjures up a “worse than” theme. Worse than: last week, or supportively, worse than expected. Either way, the team performance was worse than they were capable of and a winnable game went to waste.

No player would admit to a complacency about the Club’s current mid-table position, yet training attendance and playing performances have both taken a dip since the Club seems to be in a “safe position”. Notwithstanding last week’s beating by superior opposition, this game against fellow mid-tablers Old Rishworthians, was definitely for the taking. Perhaps it was the last minute changes before the game, due to the sudden unavailability of key players, but that can quickly be dismissed on the basis of the current strength in depth of the Club and the ongoing success of the 2nd XV. There was also the late arrival of key players to contend with that compromised warm up preparations. Either way, there is still plenty to play for in the remaining weeks of the season, with some very tough games to come.

Not suggesting it, but taking the foot off the gas at this point could send the wrong messages out to those players in the Club who are keen to compete for places in the top team and demonstrate their commitment on the training field and through their deeds on the pitch. Heading into the last month of the season, it would be exciting to see how many players really wanted to make a difference to the Club’s fortunes through its playing performances. It has been a long and difficult season, with some difficult weather conditions to contend with. Seeing it out on a positive note would be a worthy nod of respect to the coaching team, backroom volunteers, Club adinistration and supporters, who have given their efforts tirelessly into putting the Club into its best position by a number of measures, in years.

Those called up this Saturday, managed the reshuffle admirably and the new look Ripon pack seamlessly took over from the previous line up and completely dominated the scrum for the whole game. The new look Ripon bench, down to two instead of the usual three replacements, added a maturity and level of experience usually confined to the coaching team. Cruelly they were denied the opportunity to enter the field of play.

The not so new, but slightly re-arranged back line, looked promising, yet didn’t quite gel in a way that could have put more points on the board. Overall, with a team comprising three potential Hookers, three potential Scrum Halves and two potential Fly Halves, the permutations were endless and the opportunities for an exciting game well on the cards. What followed however, was a team performance which failed to capitalise on the scrum dominance, failed to capitalise on a predictable playing pattern of the opposition and just missed the opportunity to dominate the game.

Rishworthians, were by no means a pushover, though with two clear pushover tries to their credit, Ripon’s forwards might argue to the contrary. The key difference however lay in Ripon’s poor defence and lack of decision making when it mattered in attack. Missed tackles, short touch kicks and lack of sustained support for attacking players were the order of the day. It thus seemed that continuity of play and control of the game, were just beyond Ripon. There were of course flashes of brilliance, bravery and courage. What seemed to be lacking was the ambition and belief, two vital components of the “ABC” philosophy embraced by the squad earlier this season. This therefore showed in the way that many Ripon attacks simply fizzled out, through unforced errors, or wrong options. The home side however, just made the best of a bad situation with a creaking scrum, almost penalised off the park and a one-dimensional line out, by getting the ball to their slippery Outside Centre, who made life very difficult for Ripon all afternoon. Apart from that, the home team’s passion was well evident and their appetite to overtake Ripon in the league table easy to see.

Ripon received the kick off and immediately bashed home their forward dominance through Jack Stiddard’s catch and one-man drive. Pressing deep through early continuity of play, Ripon were presented with a penalty opportunity at three minutes, which Tombling, starting at Full Back, slotted over with ease from 40 metres. In an almost replay of the kick off, the restart saw Ripon trundle back into home territory and another penalty goal was offered at six minutes, which Tombling narrowly hooked wide.

Rishworthians from the next restart, held Ripon back, stopped their forward momentum and evened matters up in mid field. At thirteen minutes however, an isolation in possession led to a penalty to the hosts for holding on in the tackle. The penalty goal attempt from the 10 metre line was an early indication of the host’s kicker’s range. Now on the scoreboard, the hosts set up a number of attacking phases, interrupted only by Ripon momentarily taking the ball from them in scrums. The scrum toll of two takes each against the put in flattered Rishworthians, but also showed Ripon’s inability to completely shut this area of the game down. From the emerging success of the penalty goal, the hosts started to piece together some sound attacks. At 18 minutes the pressure told and the home side scored the first of their three tries, which went unconverted.

Ripon responded well and took the game back to the hosts and found themselves camped in the home 22 metre area for a few minutes. A sequence of scrums, penalty scrums and more scrums followed, which saw Ripon creep ever closer to the home line. Thus finally, on the half hour mark, Kier Walker calmly picked from the base of the advancing scrum to open Ripon’s try account with the first of two pushover tries. Tombling made no mistake of the conversion to make the score-line 11 – 10. The next ten minutes saw a resurgence by the hosts and any hopes of an “on time” half time whistle went begging as the half went into overtime. Cruelly for Ripon, the Old Rishworthians passion to extend their lead paid off and on the stoke of 42 minutes a further converted try extended the lead at half time to 18 – 10.

The second half saw a more even distribution of play, with the hosts doing well in their line outs and the visitors doing well in their scrums. Attacks progressed though the backs and the first time half back pairing of McDaniel and McRobert, worked well in setting the ball free to Jones to smash through the midfield. Tombling at Full Back for the first time this season in Ripon colours, entered the line well and fielded the long kicks with interest. Buckley again was a tower of strength in defence, with at least one try saving tackle after a fifty metre dash. A shame, he didn’t get more opportunities to show his pace in attack.

Second half scoring commenced at five minutes with another Tombling penalty, shorty followed by a missed attempt by the hosts. This miss was then made up for by the home kicker at 15 minutes with another 40 metre penalty goal, to put them up to 21 – 13. Closing the gap suddenly seemed an imperative for Ripon and play stepped up considerably. There were glimpses of brilliance, with attacking play from skipper Newcombe, Walker driving from the base of countless scrums and Jones aggressively hitting the centre ground. Pressure eventually built up to what seemed to be the final few minutes in the home 22 metre area. A succession of penalties and scrum options saw Ripon batter the opposition into submission and finally the referee lost his patience and awarded Ripon a well-deserved penalty try, credited to Walker as the nearest player in control of the ball. Tombling added the conversion from in front of the posts to close the gap to 21 – 20 and a glimmer of hope for at least a bonus point defeat for Ripon as the 80th minute of the game expired.

Unfortunately for Ripon, the referee’ watch had considerably more time left on it, in what seemed a carbon copy of the ending of the first half. Seizing the opportunity to head towards their target of a bonus point victory, the hosts threw everything into the dying minutes of the game and were rewarded with a converted try just prior to the full time whistle. A seemingly comfortable win for Rishworthians and an avoidable defeat for Ripon. Plenty to think about in the week to come and plenty to think about for the line up as the next game, being played on Easter Saturday, will be devoid of a number of key squad members due to holiday commitments.

Next week, Ripon will take to the road again to visit league leaders West Leeds, in the rearranged fixture from the one lost due to weather conditions earlier in the season. As the only league action taking place, the fixture has attracted significant attention from pundits around the region. Despite the likelihood of more changes to what was appearing to be a relatively settled side, it is anticipated that Ripon will rise to the challenge and maybe surprise their high flying hosts.

Travelling spectators for the game will be very welcome as usual, details of meet time to follow.