Far be it from me to openly criticise the referee, but on this occasion, many decisions were made that prevented the game from flowing and resulted in eight yellow cards between both teams and one red for Ripon, most of which were for harsh interpretations of the laws. Offering dismissals without warnings was difficult to take by both sides, as cards were flourished rather than talking with the players. Stifling competition at the breakdown and penalising genuine attempts to intercept passes resulted in far too high a penalty count for both sides. The key difference between the teams was the visitor’s keenness to exploit any errors and areas of weakness. No sour grapes however and whilst Ripon didn’t fire on all cylinders for much of the game, the overall performance was streets ahead of the two team’s previous encounter in September.

Ripon went into the game in a confident mood and with a well-balanced side, aiming to improve on last week’s lack-lustre efforts. Pre-match warm up and talk, all went well and with damp, but temperate conditions; the stage was set for a solid display from the Blues.

Rishworthians looked a slightly changed team from earlier in the season and overall, played with less pace and intensity than before. They excelled however in the scrums and put the hosts under considerable pressure for much of the game, thus reducing this usually effective launch pad for Ripon’s running game. Ripon’s line out was as effective as usual, but the visitor’s defensive tactics reduced most attempts to drive the ball, into messy heaps on the ground.

Overall, Ripon played with good pace and creativity. Unfortunately however, the defence was left begging on a few occasions when the Rishworthians pacey backs set off and cut some sharp lines.

Ripon kicked off and immediately hassled the visitors into defensive mode for the first three minutes. Rishworthians then got a grip and steadily pressed play back up-field for the next 10 minutes, using their power in the scrums to good effect. One such home put in was destroyed by the visitors allowing them to seize possession and carry the ball over the line. Fortunate for Ripon, the final carry of the ball went forward and they were awarded yet another defensive scrum. From the back-pedalling base, Britton emerged with the ball to progress 10 metres before feeding Scull to find touch. From the Rishworthians line out came quick ball carried down the blind side, allowing the visitors to open the scoring with the first of their five tries on the 14th minute. The conversion attempt was on target as the visitors’ number 10 slotted over the first of his 7 kicks of the game for a 100% record.

Ripon fought back from the restart and camped near the visitors’ line for the next five minutes, before they managed to break out again. Ripon’s backs worked well to stop the attack and clear their lines through Josh Seal finding touch. The following line out was a scrappy affair and allowed the visitors to exploit the confusion and break through for a further converted try on the 23rd minute.

Ripon restarted strongly again and this time attacked with purpose and forced the visitors into a number of errors. Progressing purposefully through two penalty touch kicks and two driving mauls, the visitor’s line fast approached. From the second maul, Tom Gilchrist broke free to feed Findlay to burst through several tackle attempts. Findlay then fed Mark Spilman, thundering up in support, for him to open the scoring for Ripon between the posts. The conversion was a formality for Richard Scull and now at 7 – 14, the score was looking more respectable. Unfortunately that was Ripon’s last opportunity to score in the half, as Rishworthians stepped up their pace and dominated the last ten minutes. The home side’s efforts to stem the flow were hindered on the half hour mark by the temporary removal of Barker for handling in the ruck. In a kickable position, the ensuing penalty gave the visitors an opportunity to increase their score by three points and a further penalty at 35 minutes ended the scoring for the half at 7 – 20.

Going into half-time with a similar score-line has been quite a regular feature of Ripon’s game this season and on most of those occasions, they have gone on to win, or get very close to. On this occasion and despite giving a stronger display overall in the second half, Ripon just weren’t able to convert the pressure into points. Hampered further by yellow cards to Butler and Duffield both for attempted interceptions adjudged to be deliberate knock-ons and the permanent dismissal of Barker for a second technical offence, Ripon were forced to keep ringing the changes in the side.

Rishworthians played with more cohesion in the second half despite being reduced to 13 players due to further yellow cards, but with Ripon also reduced to 13 for most of the final quarter, it was the visitors’ calibre that showed through and their ability to adapt better to the disruption to the flow of play. Ripon, to their credit didn’t give up and fought on as best as they could. At the 17 minute mark, Ripon were awarded two successive penalties, which they kicked to touch and used the line out to drive forward. The first was brought down illegally and the second resulted in a perfectly organised drive which steamed towards the Rishworthians line. Illegally dropped again, this time over the line, was enough to help the referee make his best decision of the day and award Ripon a penalty try. Richard Scull made not mistake of the conversion attempt.

For the record, Rishworthians scored three converted tries in the second half, one of which was pretty much at full time and perhaps flattered them more that necessary. That said, Rishworthians have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with and we wish them every success in their promotion campaign.
Next week Ripon travel to Wetherby with an aim to go into the Christmas break with a return to winning ways.