No disgrace this week and no criticism for a solid team performance that perhaps gave Moortown more respect than they deserved initially, but gave the hosts something to think about in the second half. The hosts were a good all round side and showed particular strength in their back division, which reaped benefits in their ability to counter attack from anywhere, and put in an emphatic six try winning display.

After a period of uncertainty as to whether games were on or off, Ripon had the spirit and fitness to stay in the match for a full 80 minutes, but just didn’t have an answer to Moortown’s strike force, dominated by their Left Wing. Commitment to training has showed for the Ripon squad and strength in depth at the club seamlessly accommodated four changes without any negative impact on the way the team played. Testament to this was Ripon’s second half performance, during which a home team rout was stopped and a more balanced score line demonstrated less of a gap between the two sides.

The game was a re-run of the fixture that was a last minute call off due to the frozen ground three weeks previously. From the sublime to the ridiculous, the ground took on more the appearance of a primordial swamp than the glacier of three weeks ago. In cool and persistently rainy conditions, the recently rebuilt pitch at Moortown held copious amounts of water, particularly in the downhill half and with its high sand content, made for a cold, wet and decidedly gritty encounter. Both sides however, made the very best of the weather and ground conditions and the quality of the game was surprisingly high, with little in the way of handling errors and a serious commitment from both teams to play an expansive game. There were of course opportunities for the forwards to batter at each other and honours were pretty much even in that department. Ripon’s scrum did well for the most of the game pressuring the home team on their put in and using the platform well to launch attacks. Overall mobility of the forwards was good, but can always be improved upon, to provide more sustainable close support play.

In open play, the home backs looked dangerous and faired very well with ball in hand. Ripon competed gamely and tackled well, but inevitably the power and pace showed through. Most of Moortown’s attempts at kicking however, were returned with interest by Tom Leeming, debuting at Full Back. A confident display of fielding and counter attacking could give Ripon comfort in considering him as an option in this position for the future. Also note-worthy in the backs were: Spilman for his ferocious tackling (and avoidance of any controversy over his technique); Tombling for his calm control of the ball in hand and territorial kicking and Jimmy McDaniel, making a welcome return to Scrum Half. Hopefully his shoulder injury picked up in the game, won’t be too incapacitating.

Up front, skipper Newcombe led by example again, with some big hits in defence and impressive carries going forwards. A welcome return to the squad went to Callum Findlay, who harassed the opposition with his usual tenacity and congratulations go to Jack Stiddard on his 1st XV debut.

From their kick off, Moortown sought to constrain Ripon to their own half of the pitch. The visitors however, used their effective close order play to push back and open up the game. An early blow however came at five minutes when Moortown were offered a scrum on the Ripon 22 for a knock on. Under pressure, the home Number 8 fed the Scrum Half who in a clearly rehearsed move, fed the Left Wing screaming in at a rate of knots to run in the opening try. No conversion was forthcoming and on a day with so many tries scored, if Moortown’s goal kicker had been on better form, the score would have been a lot different.

From the restart, Ripon continued to exert pressure and clever carrying from Newcombe and Plant, saw the opposition continually regrouping. The phases of play over the next ten minutes saw Ripon gradually encroaching on the home line and at the 15-minute mark, were as close as 5 metres. A home scrum was awarded for a knock on and despite backpedalling somewhat, the ball was cleared to the Left Wing again, who, from behind his own line, pushed wide of the Ripon backline and ran almost the length of the pitch before being bundled into touch by Leeming. Seizing the opportunity for a quick throw in, Moortown put the ball back into play for their Fly Half to drill a cross kick to the far corner for their Right Wing to follow up and slide through the waterlogged ground to give Moortown their second try, again unconverted.

After a few minutes of evenly contested play, Tombling reduced the deficit with a penalty goal at the half hour stage. Any Ripon ascendancy at this point was however short-lived. At 37 minutes Moortown broke out again through their Left Wing for a further try, this time converted. On the stroke of half time a further unconverted try gave Moortown a flattering lead of 22 – 3 and a lot for Ripon to make up.

The second half, as suggested previously, was a much more evenly matched affair, with both sides scoring two tries, with one each converted. The forward exchanges initiated by Ripon flowed well and great control of the ball rewarded the team’s efforts with two well worked tries, one nearly scored by Davin Jones from a cleverly chased kick, put down by Dom Butler, and a second one from Butler at the tail end of a well-orchestrated line out catch and drive. Tombling added one conversion to take his personal points tally to 57 so far. Ripon’s backs competed far more effectively in the second half, with better-organised defence and concerted attempted at line breaks through Spilman and Euan Findlay guesting at Outside Centre. With brother Callum ever present, this gave Ripon the solid platform to build on several attacking phases with ball in hand and great team work.

Butler’s first try came at 17 minutes into the second half and was its first score at that point, an indication as to how close the game was becoming. A series of forward drives put Tombling in the right position to send a cross kick over for Davin Jones to run on to. The connection was perfect and Jones slid in narrowly missing the line, popping the ball out to Butler who went over for the try. Tombling aptly adding the conversion. Again there were a lean few minutes with each side attacking and defending with passion and grit. Unfortunately for Ripon, two scoring opportunities were taken up by the hosts, one of which to all observers was clearly not a try, with the ball being pushed unceremoniously along the ground after play had stopped. Justice prevailed and the conversion attempt from in front of the posts failed. There was however, a further try on the 75-minute mark, which was converted.

Not content to let the rot set in and smarting from the loss of McDaniel at Scrum Half, Ripon brought on replacement Rowntree, who tackled like a demon and integrated straight back into the team despite being away at university for the best part of the last four months.

In a similar situation to the penultimate Moortown try, Ripon pressed all the way to the home line and in a clear drive over the whitewash, Barker, assisted by Dalby, grounded the ball. Unfortunately, the Referee was unsighted on this occasion, so the hosts were let off. Ripon fittingly had the last word in this encounter however, with an injury time score to make the overall score more reasonable and draw the second half.

From a penalty touch kick, Ripon won their line out on Moortown’s 22 and took the only option. The drive was well co-ordinated and saw repeated attempts by the hosts to disrupt progress. The forward momentum swept the defence away however and allowed Butler at the tail of the driving maul plenty of space to clearly ground the ball in front of the referee. Tombling was just wide with the conversion attempt, the final whistle blew and everyone was relieved to conclude the game with pride and confidence intact.

With return games against the big guns of Keighley and Roundhegians well in the distance at the moment and yet to play division leaders West Leeds at all, Ripon have an opportunity to consolidate their league position to one of safety and concentrate on performing better against the mid-table clubs, where games so far have been frustratingly close.

Next week, Ripon play host to Wath upon Dearne, who will be looking to repeat their forward dominated home match back in October, when Ripon squeaked through with a losing bonus point. With an in form pack and its steady ball winning platform and a back line showing more cohesion, confidence and consistency, a more even encounter is envisaged and perhaps a return to winning ways. Home kick off at 2.15pm, all support, as always, very welcome.