Back to winning ways with a bang after the Easter break, but despite an emphatic 5 league point victory over Goole, the relegation battle still hangs in the balance for Ripon. On their own admission Goole were less of a presence than in the much more closely fought struggle at their place back in early December, but certainly didn’t take this game lying down and their three try count showed how vulnerable Ripon remain to the counter attack.

On a positive point, this was an event of the season’s records being broken. This was Ripon’s highest point score of the season and the win was by the biggest margin so far this season. If there was a down side, it was Ripon’s lack of clinical precision in closing down the game when there were clear opportunities to do so. Further developmental work with the squad and the growing maturity of Skipper Adam Newcombe are all positives to take towards preparations for next season. Hopefully key personnel from now will still be available for their input next season. It would be a terrible shame if they weren’t.

With half of the squad aged 21 or under, this side was again testament to the success of Ripon’s policy of forsaking Colts Rugby for integrating newly emerging players directly into the adult teams. A hard core of this year’s Under 18s has certainly been the life-blood of the Club and with players of all abilities spread throughout the teams, has made significant impact on our ability to honour fixtures. Accepting that a fair few will leave the area on educational and maybe other adventures next season, we do hope that the education in teamwork and sportsmanship gained at Ripon RUFC, will encourage the academics to keep in touch and perhaps play again for the Club during holidays and if they are lucky enough to gain employment in the area in the future.

The policy of keeping in touch with students certainly paid off this weekend, with the timely return to the squad of Guy Watkinson at Fly Half and Dom Butler at Hooker, both nearing 21 and ex-Ripon Colts and Yorkshire U18 players. Both influenced the game in different ways, Watkinson with his control of the midfield and consistently (well mostly) accurate territorial kicking and Butler, coming off the bench in the second half to add a dynamism to the pack that saw him score two finely executed tries.

The six tries to three tries score-line, was testament to both sides’ commitment to attack and with a pretty evenly matched first half, this looked to be more of a fight than Ripon first thought. First phase ball for Ripon was however being comfortably won with the considerable bulk of Dalby and the recalled Ashley Plant in the pack and both made significant contributions in the loose, with their ferocious tackling and carrying the short, but equally important yards. In the backs, Watkinson fell into place as if he’d never been away and played a smart game in releasing the speedy backs at every opportunity. Also worthy of note was Tom Leeming’s achievement of, in his first season of Rugby, a personal points tally of 17, from a try, two penalty goals and three conversions; equalling Bob Whitaker’s record from the high score loss against Bradford Salem back in October.

As far as the game was concerned, Goole opted for the advantage of the wind and slope in the first half and did a reasonable job of limiting the damage Ripon threatened to inflict. From the kick off, Goole pressed and forced Ripon into conceding a penalty, which resulted in the first of many misses for the Goole kicker. Off the hook, Ripon allowed Goole to test them further, before venturing into the visitors’ half on the five minute mark. An offence saw Ripon opt for a touch kick and wishing to bring the backs into the game as early as possible, spun the ball wide from Oates’ off the top ball, to gift Duffield with the opportunity to scythe through the Goole midfield before unselfishly offloading to Buckley to sprint in for his sixth try of the season. Leeming, was well within range to add the conversion.

Not much happened from the restart apart from Ripon painstakingly plodding their way back up-field to force the visitors into another penalty giveaway. At 11 minutes, a fine touch kick by Watkinson gave Ripon the opportunity to test their new found confidence with a line out catch and drive. This they executed to perfection, with Rob Nicholson claiming the honours to touch down for his third try of the season. We wish him as much success in his cricket season from next Saturday as he has had with us. Despite the breeze blowing across the posts, Leeming slotted the second conversion with ease and Ripon were starting to look comfortable.

For the next ten minutes, in the eyes of the referee, Ripon could do no right and were seemingly penalised every time they touched the ball. This culminated in a penalty touch kick to Goole, who calmly caught and drove a full 15 metres, seemingly unimpeded, to score their first try of the game. After this rude awakening, Ripon set about restoring their discipline and gradually working through phases. At 32 minutes, a scrum just inside the Goole half saw Kier Walker break unhindered from the base, to offload to Joe Rowntree to sprint 40 metres home, bashing the winger into touch along the way, to nail the lead for Ripon with their third try. Leeming uncharacteristically lost focus and hit the woodwork at the wrong angle, which saw his conversion attempt fail. Thinking at that point that the half saw no further threats from Goole, Ripon seemed to take their foot of the gas and the opposition worked through several phases of possession in the dying minutes of the half to secure a further unconverted try.

The second half started with Ripon determined to exploit the stiffening breeze and pin the visitors back in their own half. That said, the first 20 minutes of the half was a pretty dour affair, with both sides seeking to test each other’s weaknesses, and there were a few, and work out the best way to play the referee. The deadlock was finally broken with a penalty touch kick putting Ripon in a position to try their luck again with an attacking line out. The catch and drive was as in the first half, again perfectly executed. All Ripon need to do now is develop an effective counter-attacking option. On this occasion, Ashley Plant put his considerable bulk into the drive, which when stopped just short of the line, saw Dom Butler gather and score Ripon’s fourth and bonus point winning try. Just at the end of his range, the conversion went unconverted by Leeming. Thereafter followed a series of play that showed Ripon can respond to positive leadership and work towards limiting opponent’s opportunities to resist. Offered two in-range penalties, Skipper Newcombe had no doubts about calling up Tom Leeming to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Although in Bob Lamb’s case, probably a claim for repetitive strain injury!

At the start of the final quarter came Goole’s last contribution to the scoreboard and a reminder that failure to close a game down completely, can leave a side open to further defensive mistakes. Goole were playing for pride and willing to exploit any weaknesses and so at 21 minutes, a succession on short drives, saw Goole push Ripon back to their own line and stretch the defences sufficiently to run in their third try. Seeing that Goole were still game to play, Ripon finally looked to sharpen up their defence, though it was pressed hard and sought to put the game beyond doubt .

At 30 minutes, Ripon blew a penalty chance to attack by messing up the line out. The ensuing scrum however, saw an encouraging drive from Ripon that secured the ball for Walker to break blind to feed Spilman, who did the necessary to break the first tackles and pass on to Duffield screaming in at a pace. Duffield’s line was all it took to stand the defence still enough to allow Tom Leeming to follow up and finish off the move with a try in the corner. Unfortunately this was just out of his range for the conversion attempt.

Goole responded with passion and courage from the restart and threw everything at Ripon for the next few minutes. The defence was organised and resolute and encouragingly, without any hint of panic. Ripon steadily pushed back up-field and nearing the final whistle, were gifted a further penalty chance. The touch kick was perfect, however the Ripon catch and drive just didn’t seem to get going. Goole pushed back and disrupted the home team’s attempts to organise and then from nowhere, appeared Dom Butler to dance around two nonplussed defenders and touch down for his second and Ripon’s sixth try of the afternoon. Leeming stepped up and made no mistake of the conversion.

A heroic victory and a real passionate game to watch. However, despite the team’s best efforts and for any betting people, against all odds, Ripon were cruelly denied safety again this season and have been forced into another “to the wire” competition that means another win is essential. Sheffield Medicals and Roundhegians both convincingly beat higher placed opposition to leave the race for the drop wide open.

Next week therefore sees Ripon entertain Roundhegians in an absolutely must win encounter. The visitors will need to win and Ripon need to gain one solitary league point to avoid relegation. Knowing of Roundhegians’ forward form and Ripon’s resurgent confidence up front, this promises to be a nail biter from start to finish and quite a physical encounter. Ripon however will not settle for a solitary point, the season needs to be finished off emphatically, with a significant win and in doing so, show the Club, the players and people of Ripon what can be achieved through team work and commitment. For the purist it may not be pretty, but for the ardent Ripon supporter and anyone who believes in the Club, its history and traditions, as well as its much vaunted potential, this surely must be the time to rally around, get behind the team and cheer them on to victory. No more excuses such as shopping, horse or boat racing, get to Mallorie Park at 3.00pm on Saturday and show what being part of a great club is all about.