Ripon travelled to Wakefield to take on Ossett on their home turf and comprehensively outplayed their hosts to run out worthy five tries to two winners in the opening round of the Yorkshire Shield Competition.

Queen’s Terrace is never an easy place to get a result at the best of times, with the vociferous and partisan local support and the no-nonsense playing style of the hosts, but Ripon absorbed the early pressure, kept their composure and ensured a place in the next round of this prestigious county cup competition.

As with previous weeks, the Ripon squad had yet more changes, nine in total comprising seven recalls and two positional changes. With a beefed up pack seeing the return of Elliot Davies-Taylor at Number 8, bagging two tries and the man of the match award for his efforts and workhorse Tom Austin at Open Side. With Nick Perez and Harry Veitch champing at the bit on the bench, the former making a huge impact at scrum time and with his fielding and carrying; this was a set of forwards to be reckoned with. Recalls in the back line to introduce pace and power, saw Will Barrett pull on the Full Back jersey and Tom Graham return to the Wing where he could do the most damage and did so with two tries to himself.

Elsewhere and starting up front; The senescent Adam Newcombe started at Loose Head, bringing his sage wisdom in the set piece, enviable pace in carrying and formidable presence in defence. Skipper Pearce held the Hooker berth as his own and added a new dimension to line out plays, offering the throwing challenge to Newcombe and himself as an aspiring receiver. Ralph Stoddart completed the triumvirate at Tight Head and once his abdominal contents were under control, played a critical role in slowing play down where necessary. The now familiar second row pairing of Britton and Rayner, had a bailiff like ring to them and didn’t disappoint when justice needed to be served, in terms of stifling opposition options and carrying hard. Billy Fletcher completed the starting line up for the pack and put in another workmanlike 80 minute shift as expected of his pedigree.

In the backs, there was a bit more churn from the previous week, with the excitement that Will Barrett could bring to open play and with his second half try, completed the rout of the opposition. Picking two flankers at Centre for the second week running in Jacob Drane and Tom Roebuck must have been born of some method, but with both despatched though injury fairly early on, neither was able to make their full impact on the result. Zak Kirby occupied the opposite Wing from Graham and whilst handling well and crossing the opposition line twice, was unfortunate in not being able to touch down for the tries that he deserved.

Morgan Clark retained the Number 10 jersey and as well as controlling the game with his territorial kicking, amassed 14 points from four conversions and two penalty goals. Harry Drane completed the back line at Scrum Half with a gritty performance until injury forced his replacement by Mark Baldwin from the bench.

The remaining finishers, got onto the pitch sooner than planned or expected as injuries took their toll. Harry Veitch added his aggression to the back row in the second half and James Cooper brought a mercurial dimension to the Full Back berth later on, before a cynical late tackle shortened his game time. Henry Hanson completed the five finisher line up, with some impactful running;

A very early and unexpected lead was taken by the hosts with a converted try after just 45 seconds of play. Ripon kicked off and Tom Roebuck, as is his normal way, recovered the ball for Ripon. A quick turnover however, saw Ossett recycle the ball quickly to counter attack and catch the visitors’ back line napping for their Wing to sprint in virtually unopposed from the half way line.

Shaken but not stirred, Ripon forced themselves into the game with some assertive dominance at the set piece. Ripon’s first score came on eight minutes after a penalty touch kick saw their catch and drive machine kick into action. After repeated drives to the home line, the final push was adjudged held up and a goal line drop out was intended to clear the danger. Tom Graham not only kept the ball in play but was on hand to finish the series of moves to touch down for the first of his brace of tries. Morgan Clark converted for the first of his 14 points of the day.
Ripon steadily took control of most phases of the game and whilst the forward battle went pretty much all The Blues’ way, the back encounters were fast and furious, with some fierce attacking and defending on both sides. Early injuries to Ripon saw Perez join the fray and bring a different meaning to the word “commitment” up front and Cooper and Hanson created a different look and approach to the back play.
After 14 minutes, Graham snatched his second try from a scrum, which wheeled in Ripon’s favour. From the delivery from harry Drane, Barrett broke free and swung out a miss two pass for “Big Tommy” to scamper home. Clark added the extras for 7 – 14.

Man of the match Davies-Taylor had the last say of the half with an instinctive support play from Tom Austin’s audacious tap penalty at five metres out. The two metre dive was well within the capability of the burly back rower, who was omnipresent for most of the match. Clark’s conversion attempt just missed for 7 – 19 and no further score in the half.

Despite a flurry of early penalties conceded after the restart, Ripon soon regained their composure and from a home penalty offence, Clark increased the Ripon lead with a penalty goal for 7 – 22 and left Ossett digging deep. Not deep enough however, when at 15 minutes into the second half, Davies-Taylor pounced again after stealing the ball from an Ossett penalty line out and crashing through the opposition to touch down. Clark’s conversion made it 7 – 29 and a mountain to climb for the hosts. Clark added insult to injury with a further penalty goal to make it 7 – 32 after 58 minutes.

A final shake up of the back division saw Hanson and Cooper join the fray and a rapid break by the former resulted in a try, the last one of the game from Ripon for Barrett. Clark converted for 7 - 39 and the end of Ripon’s scoring.

As the game went into its final quarter and with Davies-Taylor somewhat occupied off the pitch, the rest of the squad got stuck in and the introduction of Veitch to the back row and Baldwin at Scrum Half helped maintain The Blues’ pressure and control of the game. Whilst down to 14 men for a while however, the hosts did manage to make their numbers work in their favour and pressed the Ripon line mercilessly to gain an unconverted consolation try. With just five minutes to go the score rested at 12 – 39 and no hope of a recovery for Ossett.

A tougher game than the score line suggested and a stern test of integrity and guts for the whole Ripon squad. A far cry from last week’s romp and an indication that Yorkshire rugby is alive and kicking and to win games and silverware, takes resolve, resilience and discipline. In the next round, scheduled for

Next week, Ripon are back in league action and still on the road to Leeds on Saturday 4 October, where they face Bramley Phoenix at “The Warrels”. Never an easy place to get a result, with their partisan and vociferous crowd, Ripon will be digging deep to maintain their winning ways and get back into contention towards the top of the table. All travelling support will be very welcome for the 3.00pm kick off.