1st XV Match Report Saturday 6th December 2014

Profuse apologies to avid readers for the delay in the publication of this report, but the glorious sunset over South Humberside at the end of Saturday’s game had temporarily blinded me and the glory of a victory after ten weeks of delayed success and the searching of Thesauruses for the fitting array of superlatives to include in this report, has added more time than I expected.

Superlatives aside, what happened on Saturday was an emphatic statement to all of the doubters, that Ripon can win, Ripon can play a structured game and Ripon’s policy of introducing Under 18’s to the adult game, continues to pay off. With a squad containing four Under 18s and an average age of 25, this was going to be an opportunity for the blend of youth and experience to soak up the pressure from the opposition and put their commitment to training into action. That’s exactly what they did from start to finish, and apart from a hiccough at seven minutes into the game when a mis-timed pass was intercepted and allowed Goole to open the scoring with a converted try, Ripon pressed hard for much of the game and showed creativity and leadership when and where it mattered most.

Ripon dominated the scrum from start to finish and whilst struggling to counter the driving maul from the line out, generally matched the bigger home forwards in open play. Ripon have worked hard on their off the ball work rate and this paid dividends when several attacks produced sustained phases of play that gained territory and retained possession. There were far fewer mistakes than of recent weeks and a greater resolve to understand the opposition’s weaknesses and exploit them. The key to Ripon’s success however was showing maturity in the game plan, by taking scoring chances such as penalty goals when they arose and showing the confidence to clinically finish attacks.

After the shaky start, Ripon looked to find chinks in the Goole armour and sought to play several phases of short balls and forward drives. Number 8 Stead played a key part in pressing from deep and crossing the gain line and burly Lock Plant relished in making the short yards close in to telling effect. (It’s Shiraz by the way please!). With Whitaker countering with a penalty goal at 23 minutes the game looked pretty evenly placed for most of the first half. Goole however, upped their game in the last 10 minutes of the half to press the visitor’s line repeatedly and their efforts were rewarded with an unconverted try. From the restart and with seconds to go, Ripon fought back to pressurise the home side into a mistake that led to Bob Whitaker’s second perfect kick of the day to turn around 12 – 6 down at half time.

The second half saw Ripon easing their way steadily into the game with some exciting line breaks from Bell, Newby and Mpyana. It was after such a break after 8 minutes that from a scrum on the home 22 metre line, Bob Whitaker wrong footed the defence to put Joe Mpyana in for his sixth try of the season, with Whitaker calmly finishing what he started by adding the conversion. With the narrowest of margins, Ripon then began to play with more confidence and determination, however Goole were not to take this lying down and some lively exchanges followed, which saw a forward drive from them end with their Prop crawling a metre or so to the line for a try, which was duly converted.

What then followed was a masterpiece of counter-attacking from Ben Buckley, when he received an “owt or nowt” pass just outside his 22 metre area, with no option but to show his pace, that he did. After mesmerising his opposite Winger into a trance, Buckley sprinted two thirds of the pitch, outpacing the entire Goole back division, to put Ripon’s nose in front. Ever reliable Whitaker added the conversion to give the narrowest of leads again. A further penalty by Whitaker at 30 minutes saw the score line looking more respectable and then the unthinkable happened.

At what seemed to be full time, Goole were awarded a penalty, which they duly kicked to touch and then won the ensuing line out to use their catch and drive to good effect. Predictably the try came, plunging Ripon into the depths of despair by now trailing 24 – 23 with apparently no time left. Enthused by the referee calling five minutes yet to play, Goole girded their loins to defend the onslaught and Ripon simply attacked with such venom that by pressuring the home side into an error and subsequently retaining possession, a score would be inevitable. And that’s exactly what happened. From the restart, Findlay and Cassidy harried the receivers and the back line pressed in to force the Goole defence into giving away a penalty. With the last kick of the game, Bob Whitaker kicked the goal and in the gloom illuminated by a breath-taking sunset, led Ripon into a well-deserved and long awaited victory

Well-deserved mentions also need to be made for Under 18 debutantes Foster and Yates in their first adult game. Foster for his unflinching determination to use his pace and courage to keep a clean sheet on his wing and show what a versatile attacking force he can be. Yates, though unfortunate not to get any game time on this occasion, was commendable for his team spirit and his enthusiasm with the water bottles and the kicking tee, which aided quintessential half back Bob Whitaker to convert a memorable 100% of his place kicking attempts with four penalties and two conversions.

The final game before the Christmas break will definitely be a battle of the bottom-feeders when Ripon travel to Sheffield Medicals for what promises to be a repeat of the high scoring, but close game played in September which incidentally was Ripon’s last win this season. The Medics will be a difficult challenge on their home turf and definitely playing for pride and survival, which so must Ripon.

There will be a coach for players and hopefully plenty of supporters, meeting at Ripon RUFC at 11.30am. Dress code will be festive knitwear (Christmas Jumpers) and flat caps. This promises to be a defining moment of the season, whatever you were thinking of doing on the 13th of December (apart from playing for the 2nds or 3rds) get on the bus and get the Ripon winning trail.