U18s Match Report - Ripon vs Harrogate (A)

First match of the U18s Academy season away at Harrogate and a game which could have gone either way. Harrogate started well and Ripon hardly touched the ball for the first five minutes, however for all the possession little ground was made as the Ripon defence gave nothing away. Harrogate made the breakthrough after ten mins and went 10-0 up on the half- hour, Ripon did come into the game more and were unlucky when Henry Calvert went over but was unable to ground the ball.

The second half started with Ripon pressing hard but Harrogate scored again after 50 mins, unlucky for Ripon as there was a glaring knock-on in the build up which went un-noticed by the Ref. Ripon got on the board with a try made by the forwards, Rob Heaton took the ball from the 22 to the 5 meter line where quick ball was recycled twice before No 8 James Willis took it over to score. Spurred on by this Ripon went looking for more, Luke Ratcliff unlucky to be caught 5 meters from the line after intercepting a pass and a long spell of possession in the Harrogate red zone failing to produce points. With ten mins to go Luke got his try and Hynsey kicked the conversion.

The final score 15-12 Not the result we were looking for, but for the first game plenty of positive points, Lineout was good, Tackling good and the fitness level of the players saw
Ripon finish strongly.