Socks and Sandals for U13s

Never a good look (socks and sandals) but Ripon U13s definitely pulled their socks up today against Sandal to finish an amazing season with a hard fought game, coming back to win from a 21 point deficit.

Sandal started strong and went 2 converted tries up with Ripon looking half asleep, missing tackles and dropping passes.

Oliver Rockey came off the bench very early into the game when Harry Hill had to leave the field to recover from an early knock. Rockey made an immediate impact with some strong running and crashed over to score for Ripon (14-5).

The home team responded with two back to back tries (26-5) and it was looking like it was heading for a 'bad day at the office'.
Ben Rutter and Riley Tuley also had to leave the field to recover, replaced with Bertie Black and Cole Johns.
Players were dropping like flies and tries were being leaked.

Some very physical tackles started to be made and the intensity of the game stepped up a notch.

Oliver Williams got one back for Ripon (26-10), then Ted Wainwright got another, which Ben Rutter converted after returning to the field. (26-17).
Just as things were looking up, Sandal scored again (33-17) and the game looked lost.

A few positional changes were made and the back row of Evan Rees, Harry Hill And Ted Wainwright with over 100 tries between them for the season upped their work rate. Harry Hill playing at 7 sliced through the opposition to go under the posts. Ben Rutter made the conversion (33-24)
With just a few minutes left to play Connor Stout added another try, scoring in the corner (33-29).

The momentum was with Ripon and Ted Wainwright put Ripon in front for the first time in the game with a long distance try. Ben Rutter converted making it 33-36 to Ripon with a minute to play.

Huge pressure for the last minute resulted in a number of Sandal penalties before the ball was turned over and Ripon kicked it safe.

A very exciting game to watch - a slow start for Ripon but there were moments of brilliance with the ball being moved through the hands from left wing to right wing and back again.
Hamish Mainey and Cole Potts are building a good 9, 10 partnership. Cole Johns and Harry Allen showed their versatility by playing multiple positions.

Today's score puts Ripon U13s past 1,000 points for the season - Not a bad tally at all.

Tries:
Ted Wainwright (2)
Oliver Rockey
Oliver Williams
Harry Hill
Connor Stout

Conversions:
Ben Rutter (3)