U13s Return to winning ways

The U13s returned to their winning ways today away at Middlesbrough, with some of the players really taking a step up in performance.

The match was divided into three 16 minute periods, allowing both teams to circulate their squads.

Straight from the kick off Ripon applied pressure, resulting in a scrum inside Middlesbrough's half.
The formidable front row of Cameron Gilchrist, Bob McKee and Riley Tuley ensured the scrum was safely secured. Quick ball along the back line fed Oliver Rockey in the centre, who straightened the line of attack and took out a couple of defenders. A loose pass from contact was beautifully picked up by Soloman Fiengold off his laces and passed to speedster Connor Stout who raced around the covering defence and had the presence of mind to finish under the posts after crossing near the corner, giving Harry Hill an easy conversion.

Ripon's second came from a solid scrum again. Ted Wainwright took the ball from the base and beat a couple of defenders before being caught 10 yards out. Hamish Mainey was in close support and took the offload, feeding Harry Hill, who scored in the corner.

The home team seemed to wake up a bit at this point and defended well, keeping Ripon out for the next 10 minutes. The deadlock was broken right at the death of the first period, when Evan Rees went on a powerful run from the back of a ruck, shrugging off the defence and diving over the line.

0-17 at the end of the first period.

The second period didn't start too well. The kick off was knocked on and from the resulting scrum, the home team went to the blind side and gave quick ball to their exceptionally fast left winger, who broke a tackle to score from 40 meters out.

Ripon were next to score though. A scrum in Ripon's 22 was picked up by number 8 Ted Wainwright, who made good yards before passing to Oliver Williams, allowing him to 'turn on the gas' and fly down the wing, only to be stopped by a last ditch tackle 5 yards from the line. A short period of pressure close to the line resulted in a Middlesbrough line out. Ted Wainwright took the catch and the home side were unable to stop him from so close to the line.
Harry Hill converted with an excellent kick from the left touchline, aided by the far post.

The next Ripon try was a joy to watch. It followed a period of play which saw the ball go from the left touch line to the right touchline and back again with some great handling and just about every player involved.
Nathan Frazer finished the move off crashing over on the left wing.

The second period ended as it began with the Middlesbrough left winger scorching down his wing from deep inside his own half, bring the score to 10-29.

The final period saw Ripon's nemesis winger get his hat trick with another long distance try for the home team.

However, there were to be no more for Middlesbrough. Ethan McMurray was playing out of his skin at scrum half and man of the match Max Bridge was rampant in defence and attack, looking like a veteran open side flanker despite it being his first run out in the hotly contested position.
After a stint off the field and with Hamish Mainey proving his versatility at 10, Harry Hill returned to the field at full back. Middlesbrough made the fatal mistake of kicking the ball deep , only for Hill to recover the ball and run it in from his own 22.

Soloman Fiengold was also on form today and two crunching tackles in quick succession allowed Ripon to turn over the ball allowing Dylan Hudspeth and Matt Houseman to go on the rampage. What happened next wouldn't have looked out of place in a six nations match. The entire pack of forwards joined a maul and with perfect body positions and great team work, drove the maul 20 meters to within scoring distance. Ted Wainwright broke away and finished the move with another try.

Enjoying the space at fullback Harry Hill finished the match off with another powerful long distance run.
Final score 17-48

Tries:
Harry Hill (3)
Ted Wainwright (2)
Connor Stout
Evan Rees
Nathan Fraser

Conversions:
Harry Hill (4)