U13s meet their match

Unbeaten Ripon met unbeaten Otley and the visitors kept their record by outscoring Ripon by 4 tries to 2.

Unfortunate timing for Ripon's biggest challenge of the season so far meant that the outstanding 9 and 10 partnership of Mainey and Hill were unavailable due to North of England schools commitments and influential Potts was out of action recovering from surgery.

However, Ripon showed great strength in depth and versatility.
Flanker Michael Sorby started at 9 and with Ben Rutter carrying an injury from the Sheffield game, winger/fullback Oliver Williams started at 10.

Otley were obviously up for the challenge, arriving early and having a long warm up. They took this into the match and the game started with Otley applying a lot of pressure in Ripon's 22.
Oliver Williams eventually relieved the pressure with a deep kick into the visitors half, chased by Bertie Black, Titus Baker and Connor Stout. The pressure from the chase saw a number of fumbles and secured Ripon a good attacking position.

With both teams playing well, the deadlock was broken from a 5 meter scrum awarded to the defending visitors.
Great scrummaging from Riley Tuley, Max Bridge, Dylan Hudspeth and Matthew Houseman allowed Bob McKee to win the scrum against the head. Sorby fed Williams who showed good footwork to get within feet of the line. Evan Rees picked up and drove to the line but excellent Otley defence prevented him from grounding. The ball was presented well and McKee finished the move with a front row special pick and drive from inches out, scoring the first try of the game.

The theme of the first half seemed to be Ripon winning the forward battle but Otley having the edge in the backs. This was evident in Otley's first try, which went through the back line to their right winger who evaded a couple of tackle attempts and ran in from 60 meters.
Otley's second came soon after with a similar move.

With 7 players to come on at half time, the Ripon team took some adjusting. Nathan Fraser moved from fullback to hooker, Sorby moved from 9 to centre, Williams moved from 10 to fullback, Harry Allen moved from wing to flanker. The centre and wings were replaced and Luca Lombardi and Cameron Gilchrist came into the pack.
A period of disruption allowed another two well worked tries in from Otley but Ripon fought back well. The visitors conceded a large amount of penalties in the pack but Ripon failed to convert the opportunities.

Good tackling from Otley stopped Ted Wainwright from breaking through on a number of quick penalties.
Eventually the penalty count got to the point where the referee (after numerous warnings) had to yellow card one of the Otley players and ask the coach to speak to his team.
Again good defence by Otley kept Ripon from scoring until the last minutes where Dylan Hudspeth finally broke through.

Ripon will take a lot away from this encounter - A great game to watch with some exciting rugby by both sides.

Tries:
Bob McKee
Dylan Hudspeth

Conversions:
Oliver Williams (2)