Back on the road for the second week running, in stark contrast to the breath-taking scenery on the way to North Ribblesdale last week, Ripon headed up to The Teesside Riviera to take on Durham & Northumberland Division 2 outfit Redcar, in the first round of the inaugural and possibly last year of the Papa John Community Cup competition. One of a handful of Yorkshire clubs participating in this novel event at this level, The Blues headed off on a journey into the unknown to face opposition playing at Level 8 similarly to them, though not played against for many years.

In poor conditions blighted by the constant drizzling sea mist, a heavy pitch and unusually performing match balls, Ripon made the most of the situation and turned in a fine victory, played out with character and style at times. As has often been the case this season, Ripon’s discipline let them down badly again though and their inability to play the Referee to advantage cost them dearly as far as their potential to totally dominate the encounter. Conceding 16 Penalties to the hosts’ mere six, had a critical impact on continuity for The Blues and thankfully, Redcar were simply not up to the task of effectively taking advantage of the possession they were gifted. Despite being reduced to 14 men for threequarters of the game and to 13 for ten minutes in the third quarter, Ripon controlled the game from start to finish. The mighty Blues pack created havoc at scrum time and penetrated effectively in the loose. The line out didn’t go completely to plan, but with the gift of endless scrummaging opportunities for “not straights” and “knock ons”, Ripon were happy to play the tight game where necessary.

It was in the backs where The Blues’ dominance was at its creative best, with a hefty contribution to pacey and expansive play to put the team into perfect position for the seven Try routing of the hosts. Carefully rehearsed moves came off to a degree and capitalising on errors yielded good results. However, the constant whistle blowing and calling of Ripon’s alleged breakdown offences, stifled continuity and denied the visitors what could easily have been a double figure Try count. Not to dwell on the indiscretions for too much longer, the loss of Dalby after an unlucky 13 minutes for being involved in a fracas was inconvenient, but didn’t diminish The Blues’ scrum power and the second half sin-binning of Barrett for a dump tackle disaffected the backs just as much. Testament both to the quality of the players remaining on the pitch, but also the opportunities offered by less-than-optimal efforts from the hosts. Redcar themselves didn’t exactly get away lightly, with the lynch pin of their scrum dismissed in the same red card incident as Dalby clearly affecting their ability to scrummage effectively. However, apart from that, the hosts only conceded six penalties in all, but failed to take any advantage of the positional, territorial, or possession that they were gifted.

Not exactly “Total Rugby”, but a great example of solidarity in difficult playing and refereeing conditions and solid evidence of the commitment of these youngsters to stick together, adapt to change and play their hearts out for 80 minutes.

Section this week looked like another lottery draw, with a two-fold increase on last week’s reshuffle and a total of 15 changes overall from last week’s squad. With changes in double figures seemingly the norm these days, and this week equalling the same number back in September versus Northallerton, it’s any wonder how these players adapt to playing in different positions, with different team mates and just get on with it. The tombola barrel yielded 9 positional changes and 6 recalls to duty, with only three of the squad remaining in the same positions as they held last week.

In the backs, Player of the Day Mikey Bray, put in a commanding performance at Full Back, with a text book display of composure in attack and defence – stopping the opposition dead in their tracks with effective one on one delaying tactics and the odd tackle; pinpoint territorial kicking and slick use of pace and space with ball in hand. Converting four out of seven Tries was also helpful, with one of the misses hitting the woodwork. Max Burt was the only back to keep his position on the Wing and added to the team efforts with some evasive running and a Try for his trouble. The other Wing was occupied by recalled student Charlie Pilkington, more comfortable at Scrum Half, but happy to guest for the week and bag two Tries for his contribution.

The Centres saw further changes, with Will Barrett adding his pace and aggression at Inside and Tom Graham taking a break from Scrum Half to cause some damage in the open spaces at Outside. Archie Thompson put in another creditable performance at 10 with an early second half Try and a solid display of play-making mastery and finally… Hamish Mainey was released from his studies to guest at Scrum Half and slot right back into the groove he left several months ago, with some deft passing and sniping breaks.

In the pack, the front row took on another permutation, with Newcombe back in the thick of it at Loose Head, the ubiquitous Pearce at Hooker, deceptively wearing lifting blocks to confuse the enemy and the temporary this week, attendance of Dalby at Tight Head. Locking the pack were seasoned club diplomatic and legal negotiator Barker, skippering again for the day and Middlemiss Senior, adding an earthy quality to the forward play. The back row saw a switch for Hesmondhalgh to slow things down at Blind Side, with Wharton happily returning from his dalliance with the backs last week to play fast and loose at Open Side. The third unchanged remnant from last week’s squad was Perez, putting in a typical “statesmanlike” performance at Number 8.

Keeping the bench warm and dry were Slator, who entered the fray earlier than expected with Dalby’s exit; Vice Skipper Anderson to deliver his second half 15 minutes of fame and Oscar Lees, for another below radar close support outing.

With the faintest of north-easterly breezes and a persistent drizzle/mist forecast for the whole afternoon, this was not going to be the environment for spring-like festival Rugby, but with Bray’s mighty kick off into the breeze and moisture, with a great chase following, it looked like a good opportunity to put the opposition under pressure. The close attention that Perez paid to the catcher however, was sufficient to warrant the first of not many warnings that the Referee was not willing to accept anything like foul play. Penalty opportunity to take advantage by the hosts was fluffed however and from the breakdown the earliest scrum encounter resulted in the hosts getting into their backpedalling mode efficiently and set the tone for the rest of the game. Credit here to Redcar’s long-suffering Number 8, for his patience and resilience for clearing easily 90% of retreating scrums with deft handiwork and swift feet and presence of mind. Another areas where Ripon may have secured more possession had the home Player of the Day not put in such a sterling and confident performance, when all around were caving in.

Ripon’s first score came on 7 minutes, when from a 5 metre scrum, Perez picked to go open and fed Thompson looking to go wide early. The home tackles slowed things down sufficiently, but Pearce was on hand to pick and go for the second drive for the line. At the next tackle, Barker was on hand to leap his body length to touch down for the Try. Bray added the Conversion to take the lead 0 – 7.

Events played out pretty evenly towards the end of the first quarter, with Ripon causing more harm to themselves with unforced handling errors and trying to over-complicate plays too early. The weather and ground conditions didn’t help and the never seen before match ball brand wasn’t exactly helpful to either side. After the 13th minute despatch of Dalby and his partner in crime, the remainder of the first quarter fizzled out with everyone looking over their shoulders as to where the next Penalty or dismissal was coming from.

The impasse was broken at 22 minutes, when from a scrum in midfield, the ball was slipped back to Bray to hoof up field for territorial advantage. Pilkington won the race past the first line of defence to hack on towards the line. With a kind bounce and some determination, Charlie Pilkington won the next race to touch down for The Blues’ second Try. Again, Bray was on point to take the score to 0 – 14.

On the half hour mark, Ripon continued to press home their attacks and continued to suffer the indignity of dropped balls, or ineffective passes. Thankfully any attempts to counter by the hosts were thwarted by solid defence and rapid recycling. The monotony was broken towards the end of the first period, when repeated forward thrusts against the home line were forced to rethink their plan. Barker carried from the back of a maul to feed Mainey breaking open to release Perez, who quickly handed on to Slator to make 10 metres. From the tackle and a couple of close order picks, Slator was on hand to flop the final few centimetres to score Ripon’s third Try of the afternoon. Bray just missed the conversion to take the score to 0 – 19.

Play from the restart was equally as lively, with Ripon attacking from a scrum from a defensive error. From left field, Thompson gathered Mainey’s long pass and made some 20 metres before offloading to Barret and then Graham. The latter bashed his way through the attempted tackle and fed on to Burt coming in off his wing to dance his way through the remaining defence and touch down for The Blues’ fourth Try. Bray bounced the Conversion off the upright – no mean feat if you’re trying for it to take the score to 0 – 24.

Heading into overtime, Ripon kept up the pressure and at 41 minutes destroyed a home scrum sufficiently to warrant a reset and their put in. Mainey shifted the ball quickly to the right and Thompson fed Bray coming into the line. Burt was the next receiver to come in from his wing again and make some yards before passing on to Graham. Again Graham provided a steady platform for the next phase of attack and held firm in the tackle sufficiently to release Pilkington for his second and Ripon’s fifth Try of the game. Bray was unlucky again with his conversion attempt and so the half time whistle blew with the score at 0 - 29.

The second half saw both sides tiring somewhat in the heavy, cold and damp conditions. The second half penalty count against Ripon of ten for so many mixed offences, effectively shut down any aspirations they had for breaking loose. The yellow carding of Barrett for his 8th minute tackle was an inconvenience as far as the score was concerned, but seriously interrupted Ripon’s third quarter flow and continuity.

The bad talisman was however reversed when towards the end of the quarter, a territorial kick from Bray was fielded expertly by Barker, who took play on a few metres before passing on to Bray again. Burt carried play on at pace towards the home defence and at the final tackle, the ever-present Archie Thompson was on hand to take the offload and weave his way through the final couple of tackles to score Ripon’s 6th Try. Bray converted neatly to take the score to 0 - 36.

A flurry of seven Penalties in rapid succession in favour of the hosts over the next few minutes, gave them immense advantage, which was squandered criminally through poor cohesion and presumably lack of experience with the ball in hand on the day. Finally, with 41 minutes played, the host’s luck came in with a defensive kick from Ripon charged down and the hosts winning the race to touch down to regain some pride with the Converted Try to take the score to 7 – 36.

Ripon had the last laugh however and in the descending gloom, a final movement involving Slator twice, Barrett and Lees, Pearce linked into the movement to take the scoring pass for the two metre run in for The Blues’ final Try. Bray made no mistake of his last attempt of the day and there the scoreline came to rest at 7 – 43.

A solid team performance in many respects and a great opportunity to run through planned moves and phases. Also an opportunity to improve on game and referee management, sadly missed. We’ll take the positives and a win has always to be a good win.
Next weekend, Ripon will be enjoying the Easter break to rest weary limbs and reset for the next round of the Papa John Community Cup Competition. It will literally the luck of the draw as to whom The Blues play next but whoever the opposition, this young and enthusiastic side are up for more games, more wins and a chance to compete for some silverware.