Back down to earth with a bump, Ripon made the trip to Bramley to take on newly promoted Phoenix, seeking their first league win of the season. In fine conditions on a well-maintained pitch and in front of a decent sized crowd, this was no “apple pie” outing as Ripon came out close second best after an impressive start and a commanding half time lead. The Blues’ downfall was ironic in that their strong pack dominated the set piece; a welcome change from recent weeks, as well as the breakdowns, but failed to live up to expectations as far as their recently found composure and resilience was concerned. The Ripon game plan is as unsophisticated as it needs to be, as it is designed to accommodate continuous changes in personnel and yet maintain continuity based on doing the basics right when in possession and fronting up in defence. Overall, Ripon squandered probably the best percentage of quality ball they are likely to get all season through poor communication and execution and gave their spirited hosts too much room to manoeuvre. A welcome wake up call for The Blues and some consolation from a final quarter resurgence, to narrow the score-line sufficiently to gain the losing bonus point and finish Round 3 of this season in fourth place in the Division. A point to note here is that this season sees the introduction of reorganised Divisions of 12 clubs and so less margin for error and more emphasis on gaining the necessary points to remain in competition.

Selection this week was the usual kaleidoscope of change, with students returning to or starting their higher education, injuries and other availability issues resulting in ten changes from the previous squad. This week’s debut came for young Ben Ogden, reducing the average age of the squad to 22 and putting in a crunching second half performance after sitting out the first half on the bench. Up front and bolstering the set piece, the same front row of Koroiyadi, Pearce and Dalby as last week, injected power, guile and presence wherever they went. Slator looked more comfortable this week at Lock, by engaging in more “wet work” than usual at Prop and carrying hard and tackling well. Henry Fletcher joined him at Lock to rule the airwaves in the line outs and make a nuisance of himself at the breakdown. The back row saw Wharton retain his place adding pace at Open Side, Spetch came back in at Blind Side, with the younger of the Fletchers – Billy at Number 8.

The back division saw a bigger reshuffle, with just Marston remaining at Scrum Half and Hanson retaining the Full Back position. Last week’s 10 Thompson drifted out one to Inside Centre to accommodate Bray’s return and Will Barrett re-joined the fray at Outside Centre, his impact cruelly cut short after just over 20 minutes through suffering an untimely injury. The Wings were brightened by the recall of Wray on the Right and Tom Graham changing sides to the Left. Selected as the other finishers, were Llewellyn Evans as front row replacement for the third week and Morgan Clark as utility back replacement.

In bright and slightly breezy conditions, Bray assumed the captaincy for the week in the absence of Butler and Anderson and lofted a text book kick off to get Ripon into the game. Early excitement followed with the attempted clearance from the hosts finding Bray again, who banged a mighty cross field return for Wray to chase. Pipped to the post by the defensive cover, Wray couldn’t capture the bouncing ball and the hosts set about countering from deep. Their first contact resulting a Ripon Penalty for the Bramley backs being off side, which Bray put neatly into touch. The following line out was adjudged not straight, but Ripon regained the initiative from the scrum, by shunting the hosts backwards at pace. The hurried recovery by the hosts resulted in a further Penalty to The Blues and offered Bray his first opportunity to put points on the board. At just over 50 metres, even with a following wind, this was a mighty effort, which unfortunately just fell short on six minutes, but gave observers the impression that Ripon meant business.

The rest of the first quarter fell into a routine of the hosts being tormented both by the Referee in being penalised for the slightest of indiscretion and being unceremoniously marched back in the opening scrums, but gaining useful yardage with ball in hand and putting up an impenetrable barrier to the visitors’ attacks. Ripon, despite their emerging dominance in the tight, didn’t let the “ball do the talking” when in possession and misguidedly engaged in too many individual efforts when cohesively and pre-planned team plays might have been more fruitful. Either way, no score emerged until the end of the first quarter, when after a home indiscretion at a breakdown, Bray took the lead for The Blues with a 40 metre Penalty Goal to open the scoring at 0 – 3 with 18 minutes played.

The following moments were magical and just what Ripon’s planning was all about – effective use of the restart possession. Ultimately to be nominated “Man of the Match”, Archie Thompson fielded the lofty kick off just left of the centre line and set off to his right. Linking swiftly with Wharton in space on the touchline, the other teenager galloped a full 40 metres before being hauled down. Quick to the breakdown, Marston shipped quickly left for Thompson again, who fed Barrett to bounce off the hastily reorganising defence. Next up was Koroiyadi running a wide line to pick up Barrett’s looping pass and stepping one defender to the infield, created the perfect pass for Tom Graham to sprint in unopposed for the final 30 metres. Bray added the Conversion from a convenient angle to take the score to 0 – 10 at 23 minutes.

Calamity struck soon after the next restart as Barrett, who was looking to be an inspirational and instrumental component of a potential Ripon victory, as sadly side-lined by a head injury and removed from play for precautionary measures. Clark entered the fray at that point and the resultant reshuffling of the Ripon back line, whilst full of talent, didn’t really get the chance to shine again. To add insult to injury, from a battered scrum the hosts managed to hurry the ball out for their 10 to put a cheeky kick through the Ripon defence. The bounce favoured the attack rather than Ripon and from a hastily recycled breakdown, Bramley opened their scoring with a Converted Try to narrow the score at 25 minutes to 7 – 10.

From the restart, Ripon played wide early and made good ground through Thompson. Breaking over the halfway line Koroiyadi carried strongly before feeding Henry Fletcher. Flanker Wharton was on hand at the next breakdown to sustain the momentum and jink his way through the defence some 30 metres to score the second Ripon Try. Bray added the Conversion to take the score to 7 – 17 at 26 minutes played and much elation in the Ripon camp. After some even exchanges over the next ten minutes, Ripon looked to be getting the edge again and after 35 minutes following good support play after a Graham break. Koroiyadi was held up over the line. The goal line drop out eased the pressure for Bramley and despite some Penalty exchanges in the dying minutes, the half time whistle blew and the score stayed at 7 – 17.

The half time changes saw Barrett remain side-lined after his assessment and Slator rested to give Ogden his debut in the back row. From the kick off, Ripon received and in attempting to break out got dispossessed and allowed the hosts the upper hand immediately. Dalby’s heroic tackle to stop their momentum was deemed illegal and the ensuring Penalty Goal narrowed the gap further for the hosts to 10 – 17.

The next few minutes saw an element of confusion and lack of cohesion entering Ripon’s play. Passes started going astray and miscommunication led to unplanned breakdowns, which Bramley keenly pounced on. Recovering well again from a back-pedalling scrum, Bramley attacked though their 10 kicking through the defence. Poor communication from Ripon led to the kick reception being recycled by the hosts and a further Converted Try followed at 46 minutes to tie the score at 17 – 17.

Whilst the need for Ripon to rapidly regain their composure was clearly articulated and well understood, it simply didn’t happen and instead the team seemed to be wading through custard and so the hosts stepped up their pace and intensity. At 49 minutes after some confusion with numbers involved in a Ripon line out, Bramley slotted a further Penalty Goal to take the lead for the first time at 20 – 17. After this the rest of the third quarter went pretty much all Bramley’s way, with more confusion compounding Ripon’s efforts to stabilise and recover. Further pain was caused at 58 minutes, when the speedy home Right Wing recovered a missed touch kick and scampered in to touch down in the corner for the host’s third Try, which fortunately went unconverted and left the score at 25 – 17.

The final quarter saw Ripon grit their teeth and regain some fluency in their possession and retention. At 63 minutes, The Blues attacked through Clark and Wharton out wide before bringing play back infield up route one via Koroiyadi. The Flying Fijian fed onto Bray coming diagonally in support, who then fed back inside to Dalby to trundle his way over the last 10 metres to score Ripon’s third Try. Bray just went wide of the Conversion attempt and left the score at a tantalising 25 – 22.

After further Penalty exchanges didn’t lead to and more scores, it looked like the game was in the bag for the hosts and they tightened their grip in defence. Any advantage from foul play on Clark by his opposite number being penalised was cancelled out by both of them being yellow carded for squaring up to each other. With neither side suffering from the loss of a back, both teams continued to slug it out up front and Ripon stepped up a gear again.

Closing into the home 22, Ripon probed and challenged with some heavy carries through the forwards and forced sequential home penalties. Through line outs and quick taps, Ripon closed in on the hosts and when at 77 minutes the hosts lost their Number 8 through their second yellow card, things started to look rosier for The Blues. The visitors then managed to sustain the pressure when awarded a further penalty at 82 minutes and given the chance to kick at goal for the draw, or go for the line out and use numerical advantage for the potential Try and win, Ripon opted for the latter. The line out went well as far as possession was concerned, but the ensuing Penalty for a Ripon player holding on in the tackle just short of the line, was enough to let the hosts off the hook. Seeking to end the game there and then, Bramley kicked the ball into touch to record their first victory in this Division and Ripon’s first defeat in five outings so far.

Some consolation indeed in the losing bonus point and some reflection on how to make possessional and positional advantages, as well as the benefits of being awarded twice as many Penalties as conceded; turn into more points and a game win.

Next Saturday 24th September, Ripon are back at home to entertain old friends and rivals Yarnbury and an opportunity for the restoration of order, composure and a return to winning ways. The kick off at Mallorie Park is at 3.00pm and all support will be very welcome.

And finally… for any players old or new who are reading this and want to be part of developing and improving our playing strength, we would love to hear from you. For those already in the fold who haven’t yet paid their annual membership subscription, please do so immediately or talk with your team manager or other club official.