1st XV Match Report Saturday 24th September 2016

At the risk of both quoting Chairman Briggs more than necessary and seemingly becoming lost for new topics of conversation, this account will try and focus on the matter in hand – the Rugby. Would that it were so easy as Rugby was actually one of the few items of entertainment available on this afternoon and that is not intended to detract from Ripon’s winning performance by any means. The “Old Thornensians” were out in force and made for many lively pre-match conversations, some extremely fruity during match conversations and as I was not witness to post-match events, who knows what deliberations would have gone on after the steam from the changing rooms and touch line had settled? If pitch-side banter was an Olympic sport, then Thornensians would be contenders.

Anyway, the hospitality provided by our hosts was second to none and greatly appreciated. From arrival to kick off and beyond, there was a sincere welcome to our team and those few of us travelling supporters who made the journey. One hopes that when Thornensians travel to Ripon, a great reception will be offered and hopefully, be gratefully received.

Back to Chairman Briggs and his comment from last week that “it could be a game of two halves”. It certainly was just that and Ripon won the first half and drew the second this time, but ended up maintaining a lead in by one solitary point overall. A final mention of the Chair has to be a thanks for the notation that previous match reports have made him feel as if he was present to witness proceedings. On this occasion, he was very much there in person and mightily relieved I might add to be, so hope he can bear witness to this being an accurate and fair account of the game.

Ripon squeezed through by the narrowest of margins and whilst there were some exciting breakouts by both sides and sequences of sustained line pressure and intense exchanges, the score line fairly reflected the efforts of both teams. The penalty count on both sides, well into the 20’s and the absence of some five players through yellow cards during the game, was not necessarily down to the planned mischief of either side to slow down the game, but maybe more the interest of the referee in asserting their authority on proceedings. Either way, virtually every breakdown resulted in a penalty one way or another and that is not the way to facilitate a game in which each side seeks to compete for an advantage. No disrespect intended, but the game has to be about the 36 players on the field and their supporting clubs. The referee has to maintain order, but not to the detriment of allowing a decent game and what we saw on Saturday was an attempted decent game, but not flowing as it should have. Testament to both teams for recognising their responsibilities to keep within the laws and also keep their cool when frustrations could easily have boiled over.

Credit to Thornensians in that they threw everything they had at Ripon. They never gave up on an opportunity to run, through scything counter attacks and hassle every Ripon attack to a breakdown, but apart from one try apiece, the game was won by Ripon’s calmness under pressure at the penalty goal, rather than through ingenuity with the ball in hand. But at the end of the game, in which the lead changed hands on three occasions, it was the cool temperament and precise boot of Richard Scull, that gave Ripon this important league win, by the narrowest of margins.

On a seemingly summery afternoon, but with a stiff end to end breeze, Ripon arrived at Thorne in plenty of time and despite a couple of changes to the selected line up, organised the pre match well and entered the game in a much more positive way than the past two weeks. Again with a side reflecting a subtle blend of youth and experience, Ripon sought to exploit their solid forward platform from the outset and that they did. With a largely strong scrum and a flexible line out able to produce a plethora of useable ball, it was down to how well the Ripon backs could exploit the possession and how well the referee would allow advantage to be played. The Ripon possession was plentiful and the opportunities to attack the same, but penalties at breakdowns seemed to become the order of the day before too long and both sides became increasingly frustrated at the lack of continuity.

Unlike the previous two games, Ripon started strongly and took the game to the hosts. Using their forward power to good effect, Ripon punished the hosts in the first three scrums, to make them think twice about using it as an option for further attacking options. Having destroyed three home scrums, Ripon found themselves with a penalty opportunity for Scull to open the scoring at nine minutes. After a period of pretty innocuous play by both sides which gave neither side any territorial or scoring opportunities, a break came on the twenty-minute mark for Scull to increase Ripon’s tenuous lead by a further three points with another penalty goal. Ripon pressed back from the restart and camped in the home 22 metre area for a short lived attack, before a fumble let the hosts break out. Some five phases of play saw Thorne effectively recycle possession to score a converted try in the 23rd minute to take the lead.

Heads didn’t go down and Ripon fought back from the restart to re-apply the pressure on the hosts. Within a few minutes another penalty to Ripon allowed Scull to push the ball into touch within attacking distance. The line out catch and drive was a text book affair, with the Ripon maul snaking over the line for Euan Findlay to touch down. Scull just fell short with the touch line conversion attempt. A break out by the hosts from the ensuing restart gave them a penalty opportunity, which was gratefully received and eased the score to 10 – 11. Ripon held on dramatically for the last five minutes of the half when the referee’s card flourishing hand went into overdrive and sin-binned both Findlay and Scull for offences which nobody seemed able to agree on. That said, with 13 men on the field, Ripon held on to the tightest of leads and went into half time with a sigh of relief.

The second half was a really innocuous affair with both sides trying their best to play and seemingly more rules being brought into play to stop any continuity. Ripon’s scrum dominated, eased and then picked up again. Ripon’s line out dominated throughout and Ripon’s backs challenged in attack and defended well. Each side traded penalties and with the count at three apiece in the second half, Ripon held on to the tiniest of lead and Thornensians will be kicking themselves for their inability to finish off so many attacking phases.
To Ripon’s credit, was the significant, though not perfect, improvement in defensive play and undoubtedly, the coolness of Scull in slotting over five penalty goals to seal victory for Ripon. Ripon do however need to develop a more clinical approach to retaining possession and finishing attacks when close to the opposition’s line.

There may be more changes to challenge the current line up as second team players improve, but the current squad looks solid. There is a sound ball winning platform up front and an exciting back division in the making. More involvement of all club players at training and availability to play, will ensure that those that represent the club at the highest level, do so on merit.

Next week, Ripon entertain a robust Wath upon Dearne side and seek to build on this week’s success and continue to play in their expansive style and build on recent good form, but lack of success on the field. All support welcome as usual. Team meet at 1.45pm kick off will be 3.00pm