Ripon entertained their visitors from South Yorkshire on an afternoon that started out fine and bright and whilst the weather changed considerably, the game ended just fine for the Blues, as they notched up their ninth league win of the season in front of a fair crowd of “Old Ruckers”. In still and clear conditions, Ripon sought to put last week’s grind in the mud behind them and get back into some more fluid playing ways. Overall the game was keenly contested, with no quarter given on either side and despite the home side being subjected to the “Barnsley Test” for the first 20 minutes, they passed with flying colours to romp home to a six try, bonus point victory.

To Barnsley’s credit, they dominated the first quarter, gave Ripon a difficult time at the set piece and stayed for a good few beers after the game – a very welcome situation these days when the social side of the game often gets forgotten. With Ripon unfortunate to lose skipper Adam Newcombe in the first minute to a yellow card for an allegedly dangerous tackle, Barnsley seized on their advantage in the scrum and used their extra man effectively to cause the home side no end of problems. So, after the loss of Newcombe for his offence, Barnsley missed their penalty opportunity by kicking just wide of the goal. They did however, retrieve the drop out kick to set up an attack first left, then right, to let their Right Wing in for the first try of the day on the three-minute mark. The conversion attempt going astray, the same way as the penalty kick two minutes previously.

Barnsley continued to use their numbers and weight advantage and at ten minutes, forced Ripon into an indiscretion at a scrum. The resultant penalty attempt was converted and put the visitors into a concerning 0 – 8 lead so early in the game. A key component of Ripon’s pre-match preparation is to reinforce the need for patience. And so, the Blues went on to soak up the pressure, organise in defence and snuff out any further Barnsley attacks. Admittedly the scrum remained under pressure for much of the game, but Ripon were always able to make the most of their own ball. The line outs worked as well as usual and usefully generated either quick ball, or some meaty driving mauls.

It became clear at around the 20 minute-mark that Barnsley would not sustain their tempo for much longer and gradually Ripon eased back into the game, with more competition at the set piece and the breakdown and more made of attacking options. At 23 minutes Ripon finally crossed the visitors’ 10 metre line, with the first of many scything runs from Joe Duffield, ending in a chip and chase that didn’t quite allow for a score. At 28 minutes, Ripon closed into the Barnsley 22 metre area and were offered two penalty opportunities near the touchline. Both resulted in touch kicks and line outs followed by well executed drives. Both however, allowed Barnsley to regroup and finally relieve the pressure.

At the half hour mark, Ripon were establishing more creative and sustainable patterns of play and with big carries by the likes of Plant, Taylor and Newcombe, good yardage was made. From a multi-phase play, involving many of the forwards, Butler emerged into the clear and put Richard Scull away for Ripon’s opening try in the left corner and his first of two on the day. Adding the conversion, Scull was well on the way to his personal 20 points tally for the day. From the restart, Barnsley pressed a bit and Ripon answered back, so it looked like the visitors were getting back into their groove. Ripon put paid to any “Sunburst Finish” of the half by Barnsley, with a cheekily executed move. With Ripon pinned back to a line out 10 metres from their own goal line. Gilchrist audaciously threw to Newcombe at the front, who surprising the opposition made a full 30 metres, before being brought down. The recycled ball went out wide to the right quickly for Duffield to make another 40 metres before the next breakdown. An equally rapid recycle saw Scull kick through for the left corner and James Audsley-Beck sprinted through to touch down for his first score of the season in a Ripon Jersey. Scull added the conversion to the referee’s closure of the half, giving Ripon a comforting lead of 14 – 8.

Ripon kicked off the second half with a renewed vigour and George Bentley causing problems for the catcher. Duffield seized upon the loose ball and hoofed it downfield. Despite heroic defence by the Barnsley backs, Ripon pieced together three phases that saw a mini maul release Dominic Dalby to power over to increase Ripon’s lead and give Scull another conversion opportunity which he took well.

From the next restart, which went deep into Ripon territory, the home team gradually built up their attack, but put a long kick into the dead zone. Making up for it from the 22 metre drop out, Richard Scull retrieved the deep ball, jinked his way through three defenders, whacked a grubber through the last line of defence and then picking up the perfect bounce, crossed over for his second try of the game. The conversion was quite straightforward and a great testament to a quite individual score; taking Ripon up to 28 – 8 and giving Barnsley a more difficult hill to climb.

With two tries scored within five minutes, Ripon clearly needed a breather and so for a few minutes went off the boil. That was soon rectified at 15 minutes when a Barnsley attack was halted by a heroic turnover by Josh Seal, allowing a quick feed for Tim Tombling to hack on downfield. Last in line was the Barnsley Full Back, who in dropping on the loose ball, regathered it in an illegal manner; forced the referee to award Ripon a penalty try. Scull calmly added the conversion from in front of the posts to take the score to 35 - 8.

Midway through the second half, Barnsley found their second wind and started playing with more purpose and making better use of their possession. At 26 minutes, some good retention by the visitors and poor tackling by the hosts, allowed the Barnsley Outside Centre in for a try. The conversion attempt unluckily bounced off the woodwork, leaving the score 35 – 13.

After that, Ripon effectively shut the game down, with robust defence, fierce competition at the set piece and building up attacking options patiently and with confidence. In the dying minutes of the game, Ripon were all over the visitors, pressing for the line and getting held up. Testament to Barnsley’s defence at this point, Ripon were unable to score from two line crossings. However, from the second 5 metre scrum, Ripon used the quick ball to good effect, with Scull creating the space for Audsley-Beck to come into the line, before unselfishly gifting Mark Spilman with Ripon’s closing try. Scull’s uncharacteristic miss of the conversion was pretty much the only foot he put wrong in a game that showed Ripon off such a good light.

Positivity in the face of adversity, with players off the field, everyone stepped up and limited the damage. Courage to put up excellent defensive performances and reduce the opposition’s scoring chances, but more importantly; the belief and patience that solid graft will deliver points. A very inspiring team performance and a great boost before going into a couple of difficult games before the Christmas break.
Next week, Ripon travel to old friends and rivals Leodiensians, in the hope of both fielding a third team, as well as continuing in their winning ways.