A tough day at the office for the thirds on our maiden away game of the season. The team was looking incredibly strong until Saturday morning where a number of players across the teams dropped out due to a variety of reasons. Ripon traveled with 12 men with the intention of doing what they could with what they had, and a very impressive performance emerged.

Ripon were graciously lent 2 players from Leeds who were very enthusiastic and willing to do their part in the interests of fair play. The game was incredibly even and well fought on both sides; the Blues back line was fast and the forwards matched Leeds man for man. Ripon Spent the majority of the game defending due to giving away too many penalties again but the first up tackling and hard pressing by the flankers kept the attacking Leeds under constant pressure.

When Ripon did get to have a go with the ball, they were effective, hitting hard and retaining possession very well. An enraged and bloody Simon Williamson battled his way through swathes of Leeds shirts scoring 2 tries and converting one with his partner in crime, Nick Coates touching down a third.

The lineouts were somewhat messy but functional with veteran Clegg and Richard Hudson (first time jumper) effectively retaining possession and turning over a good quantity of ball. The scrums were also balanced, Keeping our ball safe but struggling to threaten a turn over.

The battle of attrition wore thin towards the closing quarter and Leeds took back one of their players by which point Ripon struggled to hold on and small errors were punished by late game tries.

Honourable mentions go to M.O.M Simon Williamson for pressing the attack with brutal offensive runs, Richard Hudson for a devastating performance on the flank and new youth player Keith Anderson who stepped up at fullback and saved Ripon’s Bacon on multiple occasions with dynamic runs and well executed clearance kicks. Most importantly an honorable mention to every player who traveled knowing there would be no substitutes, put their bodies on the line and gave 100% to a game which we very nearly won.
I very much look forward to the return match as our hosts played a strong game but I feel with a full squad of blue shirts, we could achieve a much more favourable result.