3rd XV Match Report - Saturday 2nd January

In the primordial swamp formerly known as Mallorie Park, two evenly matched sides as well as being evenly coloured at the final whistle, slogged out a dour contest for the honours in this local silverware competition. With the pitch just about playable at the outset and the threat of more rain, coupled with the proximity to the excesses of the festive season for many players on both sides, this was never going to be a festival of running Rugby. For the purist, this ended as a battle of attrition in many respects, with Ripon perhaps overly confident in the ability of players in their available squad and Redcar in their failure to properly exploit their more cohesive team play. Neither side was particularly dominant apart from Ripon’s edge in the scrums, but this wasn’t tested to great advantage and both sides were excusably guilty of increasingly frustrating handling errors as the ball gathered more and more mud during the game.

Ripon sought to utilise the experience and weight of their considerably bulkier forwards, with a solid scrum and an effective line out. Redcar, through their sharp back row play, refused to let Ripon’s scrum dominance spoil their game and to a degree ruined Ripon’s continuity of play by being faster to the breakdown. Looking to exploit the strike power of Sykes in the Centre, Ripon pursued a number of options to bring him into play. Despite making good yards however, lack of support snuffed out the option and Ripon looked devoid of attacking ideas for most of the first half, indeed most of the game.

An early penalty opportunity saw Simon Williamson open the scoreboard for Ripon with 3 points. Soon after however, some disorganised defence saw the Redcar Number 8 recover the ball from a backpedalling scrum and evade three or four tackles before touching down between the posts to open up for Redcar, the conversion being a formality. Stiddard and Sykes continued to carry well, but their attacks were short run as the defence stepped up and snuffed out the options for continuity.

In a second quarter devoid of much continuity due to the atrocious conditions, little in the way of enterprising play was forthcoming. Burgin was lifted above the gloom in the line outs to secure a steady stream of ball for Ripon to attempt to play with, but stout defence and cloying mud took their toll. Redcar however, played a solid defensive game and sought to punish any handling errors with swift counter attacks through close support play. One such counter attack, again saw Ripon’s defence lacking and another breakout from the deadlock saw Redcar increase their lead by a further converted try. Ending the half 3 – 14 down, Ripon had a clear idea as to what they were up against and what was necessary to make up the points difference and win the game.

With a couple of personnel changes, Ripon sought from early in the second half to better use their forward power and control the game more cohesively. Instrumental in Ripon’s second half resurgence was the introduction of Drane at Scrum Half, who moulded the Ripon pack into a unit that only saw one way and that was forward. Every opportunity to secure the ball was converted into a driving maul; from line outs and breakdowns and soon the gaps began to appear in the Redcar defence. At the end of the third quarter a gap opened wide enough for Sykes to shrug off the first up tacklers to sprint in for Ripon’s first try of the game. Williamson made no mistake of the conversion to put Ripon up to 10 – 14.

Further aggressive driving forward play saw a series of opportunities to press the Redcar line. A penalty kick attempt by Williamson went slightly wide, but Ripon kept calm and carried on. With penalty options, line outs and even five metre scrums, Redcar were very much under the cosh for a good fifteen minutes. From a five metre scrum after an unsuccessful attempt at touching down, Drane managed to apply the necessary pressure for the try to be awarded. Williamson was just wide with the conversion attempt but the score just nudged Ripon in front by one point.

With just twelve minutes to go, a suspected neck injury to a Redcar player forced the game to be stopped and play transferred to the next pitch. A seamless transition to a slightly less well illuminated area, saw Ripon press hard and Redcar defend heroically, with no further scores. Both sides should take comfort from the fact that 40 players were able to participate in a game and Ripon RUFC was able to provide the albeit wet, but floodlit facilities to make it happen, as well as providing the after match hospitality.

A win is a win, whether emphatic, or in this case, by the narrowest of margins and Ripon through a display of gritty determination, proudly go through to the next round of the competition. Fair play to Redcar for their dogged determination and sportsmanship to the end and we all wish Jamie the very best in recovering from his neck injury. Fair play also to the Ripon Club Physio and coaching team for providing the care to the injured Redcar player and for their support to the Ambulance crew in removing him from the pitch. A great team effort overall.