U14s Allay Wharfedale Woes

With two defeats at Wharfedale already this season today was always going to be a tough game.

The nearly full Ripon squad were definitely up for the challenge though. From the moment they came out of the changing room there was a sense of purpose that has been missing in recent encounters. All the boys were switched on through the warm up and took it into the game.

Some typical power house runs by Ted Wainwright put the visitors under pressure in defence early on and a beautiful offload to Harvey Toomes, running a great line in support, allowed him to smash over the line for an early score (5-0).

A strong cross field wind didn't appear to bother the back line who were handling the ball with confidence. Good delivery out to Evan Rees saw him show the Wharfedale defence a clean pair of heels to race in from outside the 22. (10-0)

The Ripon defence was excellent - Cole Potts, Harry Fern and Connor Stout tackled like demons, allowing back rowers George Spink and Ben Rutter to turn the ball over in the ruck. The pattern of powerful running then spinning it wide saw another run in from Evan Rees very similar to his first. Oliver Williams disrupted the traffic by kicking the conversion onto the road and gave Ripon an impressive lead. (17-0).

Mike Spink retrieved the spare ball and blamed his wellies for a dreadful kick.

Right on the half time whistle the impressive Ripon defence was eventually breached and the Wharfedale winger brought his team back into the game. (17-7)

The entertainment continued in the second half, and it was good to see with four changes to personnel there was no disruption to the team.

Ted Wainwright on yet another devastating break offloaded to Evan Rees who ran in from 30 meters for his hat trick. (22-7)

Hamish Mainey made a few darting breaks and kept the defence thinking and Oliver Williams played a very clever tactical game.
Nice handling through the backs gave Bertie Black a bit of space down the wing but he was just taken into touch by a covering tackle.
Wharfedale started to put boot to ball and this resulted in a much looser game, with Oliver Williams, Cole Potts and Connor Stout retrieving ball deep in their 22 with a bit of space in front of them, going on some exciting runs.

With about 10 minutes left to play, the ball found itself in the hands of Evan Rees who evaded the defence to run in from 40 meters for his fourth of the game. Oliver Williams added the extras. (29-7)

Credit to the visitors, who were playing very well and were just unfortunate to come up against an on form Ripon. They came back in the last 10 minutes and applied a lot of pressure, resulting in a number of penalties, which they used well and hit back with three tries at the close of the game. Final Score (29-26).

A very entertaining game to watch and played in excellent spirit by both teams.

Tries:
Evan Rees (4)
Harvey Toomes

Conversions:
Oliver Williams (2)