Ripon vs Darlington - Thursday 17th August

Under the floodlights of Mallorie Park and before a sizeable crowd of well-wishers, Ripon fielded two full teams, with a full complement of replacements, to put the club’s playing strength through their paces as a curtain raiser for the 2023/24 season. The first of two pre-season friendlies, this week versus northern neighbours Darlington 1st and 2nd XVs, was aimed to put the intensive off-season preparation of the squad to the test under full match conditions, both in terms of the players’ skills and conditioning, as well as their understanding and execution of the new and much vaunted tackle height law. The former showed very well, with the whole squad showing great pace, stamina and game control, particularly in the second-string game, whereas the latter, definitely indicated a work in progress. With eleven penalties overall and four yellow cards between the two 1st XVs due to high tackles, it was good for players to get this out of their systems in friendly games rather than run the risk of falling foul of the laws in league games.

Overall, Ripon played with pace and intensity and applied great concentration to maintaining structure and organisation to their game plan. With a seven-Try bonanza, including a hat-trick from Tom Graham in seemingly unstoppable form and two from the diminutive but highly impactful Will Barrett, The Blues absorbed the visitor’s attempted forward pressure with ease and took every opportunity to play the wide game. Adding to the score sheet were Matt Powell and Dom Dalby, both with close-range Tries after sterling support work and rich reward for their overall efforts; with Mikey Bray finishing with four Conversions.

From a selection perspective, Ripon’s starting 1st XV line up, or “Thunder” as they were so named for the occasion, had a largely familiar ring to it, with a subtle blend of youth and experience. Up front and despite some off-season departures by front row players, the pack was well bolstered by “Gorgeous” George Evans and Dom Dalby at Prop, with the immortal Adam Newcombe well into his second decade of senior outings at Hooker. The Second Row saw a happy recall for Charlie Britton partnered by new signing and debutant Tom Roebuck. The starting Back Row also saw a welcome return for Freddie Wharton at Open Side and Nick Perez at Number 8, with a debut for another new signing Tom Austin.

The back line was as good as any that graced The Blues’ shirts last season, with the globetrotting Max Marston home to roost at Scrum Half and Archie Thompson maturing well at 10. The Centres saw a small but perfectly formed and hard-hitting duo of Matt Powell and Will Barrett, with last season’s top Try scoring machine Tom Graham and Max Burt on the Wings. Mikey Bray brought up the rear at Full Back, as well as seeking, as player-coach, to see the fruits of his off-field labours ripening.

Very much a game of four quarters, this had a slow start and finish and most of the action either side of half time. The first quarter was very much one in which both sides found their feet and tested the Referee’s interpretation of all of the laws, let alone the tackle height. No score arose for either side, though some exciting plays saw the home Centres punching holes and some high impact defensive work going in. Dalby came closest to scoring on 10 minutes when hauled down five metres short.

The second quarter saw much more cohesive action, with the home pack consistently delivery fast and good quality ball and the backs playing with great shape and pace. The first Try came from a turnover and then quick hands from Perez and Powell to put Graham away from just inside his half. Graham smashed his way through two tackles before going into overdrive and outpacing the defence to touch down in the corner, Bray adding the Conversion. Next up was Powell, who following some close order work in the pack was on hand to latch onto the first chance to go wide and plunged over to take the score to 12 – 0.

What followed then was a moment of pure magic, when Perez was held up on the visitors’ line and conceded a goal line drop out. The lengthy kick found Barrett on his own 10 metre line and after dodging the first tackle attempt, scythed through the entire Darlington defence to touch down untouched for The Blues third Try. Bray re-found his kicking rhythm and added the Conversion to take the score to a creditable 19 – 0. Unperturbed however, Darlington finished the half strongly and caught the “Blue Wall” napping with a Converted Try and with no further scoring opportunities, the score remained at 19 – 7 at the break.

The second half was less than a minute old when from the kick off a Ripon handling error gave the visitors a scrum put in. Replacement Hooker Oscar Lees took the ball against the head and Perez picked from the base to get things going. A quick feed to Bray and then Barrett then saw Graham in possession again and with only 20 metres to cover, the outcome was undisputed. Try number two for Graham and Conversion number three for Bray nudged the score up to a more comfortable 26 – 7.

The dust had barely settled from the last score when off The Blues went again. This time from a quick line out, a miss pass from Thompson fed Barrett in the smallest of gaps. The pocket rocket however set off again and in almost a carbon copy of his first attempt, wafted untouched through the opposition again to touch down for his second and with Bray’s fourth Conversion, the score went up to 33 – 7.

As the game headed towards the final quarter, the hosts were well in control of all phases of the game and so the changes were rung across the team to maximise the opportunity to try out seasoned and inexperienced players alike. Despite multiple personnel changes, Ripon maintained their pace, intensity, structure and grip on the game.

At 56 minutes, it was Graham again who livened things up with his third and final Try. An unsuccessful Darlington thrust to the home line was repulsed at the last moment and Oscar Burke cut loose to create some space. Tom Graham was on hand to take on the break out and blasted a full 70 metres to outstrip everyone on the field to claim his hat-trick. Bray was just out of range with the Conversion attempt and so the score remained at 38 – 7.

Ripon kept up the pressure from the restart and when Bray kicked for territory, Harvey Hooley was on hand to chase up and press the attack towards the visitors’ line. When tackled. Hooley held up long enough to feed the rampaging Dalby to crash over for Ripon’s final score of the evening to make it 43 – 7.

The final quarter was less structured as the rest of the game, with multiple personnel changes, which disrupted flow somewhat. With the tolerance of the interpretation of the high tackle law being stretched to the limit, something had to give. Thus, in quick succession, Ripon fell foul of the Referee three times and suffered the indignity of three yellow cards on the trot. Down to 12 men at one point, Ripon’s previously steadfast defence couldn’t hold and Darlington scraped in for a consolation Try on 67 minutes.

That was it as far as scoring was concerned and the scoreline of 43 – 12 remained until the final whistle. Not the perfect ending, but a solid performance throughout and some areas for further development to fine tune the good bits and eliminate the bad.

Next Saturday 26th August, Ripon continue their pre-season action with a bus trip up the A1 to Gateshead Fell and will be aiming to build on this success in preparation for the coming season. Again, all travelling support will be very welcome for the 2.30pm kick off.

For any existing players, or would be new members reading this who have not been party to pre-season training or available for the games so far, it’s never too late to get back into playing ways, so do get in touch and participate. We need as many players as possible to sustain our playing strength and league aspirations. Training continues at the club every Tuesday and Thursday evening and every little helps! The Counties 2 Yorkshire league season starts in earnest for Ripon on Saturday 2nd September with both 1st and 2nd XVs travelling up to Settle to play a double header against old friends and Rivals; North Ribblesdale.