1st XV Match Report Saturday 9th April 2016

It was a case of nearly, but not quite this week as Ripon sunk to their fifth defeat in a row in this nail-biting encounter at Roundhegians. Despite putting up a sterling display, with all departments of the squad stepping up, Ripon had to settle for a bonus point loss, as they just couldn’t increase their score in the second half. With a solid forward platform providing plenty of quality possession and the back line showing great creativity in attack and robustness in defence, this was a quality team performance. The score line of three tries apiece is testament to the flow of the game between two pretty evenly match sides. The Ripon scrum was back at its best, with Mark Sadler a rock at Tight Head Prop and Sam Britton putting a workmanlike performance at Number Eight.

In fine conditions and with a good playing surface, both sides looked like they wanted to play the ball and the match was set to be a lively encounter. Ripon kicked off and immediately held the hosts in their own half. A scrum to Ripon on 6 minutes saw a superbly executed back row move with Findlay breaking out on a looping run to clear 30 metres down the wing. Close support allowed the recycled ball to be fed left, to Tom Leeming to come in on an acute angle and score the opening try. Tombling added the conversion.

The Ripon joy was short-lived as the restart reception was completely messed up. The home side regathered the ball in the confusion and after a couple of phases of offloading, pushed the ball out to the Right Wing to open the scoring for the hosts, conversion added.

The next restart from Ripon was equally exciting as Tom Leeming chased and almost recovered the kick. Nicholson recovered the ball in the home confusion and fed McRobert, who cut through the initial defence to make some 20 yards. Offloading in the tackle, unfortunately provided the Roundhegians’ Inside Centre with a gifted interception, to scamper off and touch down under the posts. Conversion added to put the hosts ahead 14 – 7. A further penalty attempt by the hosts was missed and one added to take the score up to 17 – 7, with minutes to go to half time. Deep into injury time however, Ripon camped in the home 22 metre area and forced penalty after penalty. Going for forward power and the scrum option, the visitors pressed closer to the home line. After a penalty touch kick, Ripon drove the catch to carry the ball over the home line, but the referee was unsighted to call the touch down. The ensuing scrum, saw Ripon destroy the opposition and the pushover try was awarded to Sam Britton. Tombling narrowly missed the conversion attempt, but the half time whistle blew to a more credible score line of 17 – 12.

Another poor restart reception saw some confusion in the Ripon rans and let in the opposition unexpectedly. Quickly recycled ball saw the home Right Wing run in for his second try of the game in the second minute of the half. Conversion added.

Ripon responded well and strung together some clever phases and gradually grew in confidence and reduced the error count. At 15 minutes, a penalty to touch saw Ripon exploit the forward power again, with a well-executed driving maul. Steering from the rear, Jack Stiddard timed the grounding perfectly to reduce the gap further. Tombling added the conversion to take the score to 24 – 19.

The final quarter saw some heated exchanges as Ripon chased the win and the hosts sought to extend their lead. Cruelly, Ripon weren’t able to exploit their scrum power to increase the score line through further tries, but a penalty goal apiece, saw the final score settle in the home team’s favour at 27 – 22. No disgrace and at least a point taken, but more importantly a solid display of confident attacking and well organised defence.

Next week, Ripon entertain runaway league leaders West Leeds, in their final home game of the season. Clearly, West Leeds will want to keep to their winning ways, but if Ripon can play as well as their last game and score points, the result may not be as bad as the previous encounter a few weeks ago. Kick off 3.00pm, all spectators and well-wishers very welcome.