Bramley Phoenix vs Ripon - Saturday 16th September 2023

Rather than rising from their own ashes, the perhaps inaptly named Bramley Phoenix, in suffering their third successive defeat of the season, fizzled out like a damp squib, as a lively Ripon side extinguished any hopes, they had of securing their first league victory.

The Blues however, in recording their second successive win after a disappointing start to the season, looked like they meant business from the start and nearly trebled their half time lead, to bring home a second, Try Bonus Point win on the trot. In what could at any point been a much closer game than the score depicted, Ripon stuck to their game plan, rode the storm of a yellow card and various injury incidents, to run out emphatic winners.

With a stable pack to provide the platform from which to launch as good a back line as Ripon are capable of fielding these days and with a power packed bench of finishers, this was going to be Ripon’s game to lose. Always a tough place to visit, the claustrophobic atmosphere at Bramley, the vociferous home crowd and the sheer determination of the host’s squad, made this far from a forgone conclusion, but maintaining composure and playing structure, again won the day for The Blues. With a poorer disciplinary record than their previous outing, conceding 10 Penalties in total and losing Bray for a Yellow Card offence, one might argue that Ripon were to a degree, victims of their own expectations. Some interesting and at times, inconsistent refereeing decisions however, made it difficult for the visitors to get their interpretation of the officiating as right as the previous week and therefore weren’t able to keep their indiscretions within the acceptable limit of single figures. The hosts in this respect, pretty much had a game of two halves, as in, they conceded far more Penalties in the first half and the count against Ripon in the second half seemed to rise in proportion the points they were scoring.

Discipline and keeping 15 players on the field at all times, does remain a key strategy for Ripon and second guessing the Referee’s position on interpretation of the laws, has to be figured out earlier on in games to avoid the challenges of losing players.

This week’s pick saw a total of 10 changes from last week’s squad and with no debuts, it was very much a shuffling of the deck from the last two outings and a couple of recalls from last season making their first appearances this period. Again, The Blues were blessed with a plethora of talent and the selectors’ job was made more difficult with player availability in not only unprecedented numbers but of extremely high quality. Again, an outstanding 2nd XV was also selected and benefitted from the club’s strength in depth by going out and absolutely trouncing their opposition. The realignment of the 1st squad saw seven positional changes and three recalls.

Bringing up the rear was Mikey Bray at Full Back, who in just a 70-minute outing, racked up two Conversions and three Penalty Goals to take his personal points tally for this season to 30. Bray also added an extra dimension to the “Blue Wall” defence, with some outstanding individual tackling efforts and effective clearance kicking. The Wings saw Tom Graham now a regular on the left and Lucian Wray back in the squad from his travels on the right, Graham getting on the scoreboard again with his second Try in two weeks and deputising at Scrum Half for over half the game. The Centres were very much the “Little and Large Show”, with lofty Liam Wood guesting from his academy duties at Inside and the small but effective Harvey Hooley at Outside, the latter bagging a Try and taking the Man of the Match award for his trouble.

At half back, Archie Thompson retained his place at Number 10, with another commanding position territorially and with ball in hand and Morgan Clark stepping in to liven things up at Scrum Half. The latter making quite an impression until he succumbed to the hosts’ efforts to decapitate him and retired for head injury assessment on the half hour mark and took no further part in the game.

In the pack, the front five saw no changes from last week and what a difference that stability made to the strength of the set piece and the power of their support play. George Evans kept the Loose Head jersey and James Pearce and Nick Perez kept their places at Hooker and Tight Head respectively. Again all three making a significant impact at set piece and in loose play, with Evans carrying hard with the ball this week, Perez up to his usual tackling capability and Pearce generally making a nuisance of himself. The Second Row was the same last week too, with Skipper Iain Barker making a presence in open play and Joe Middlemiss, on hand to make light of the “wet work”.

The back row saw a completely refreshed line up from last week, with a first start of the season for this year’s young hopeful Harry Veitch at Blind Side and putting in a display of fortitude and endurance way beyond his tender years. Bringing up the average age of the triumvirate at Open Side was Tom Austin with a gritty display and a Try late in the second half for his efforts. Making the final position at Number 8 was fellow new signing, Tom “Scarface” Roebuck, whose opening Try after 26 minutes of the first half was the catalyst to get the game moving for The Blues. Credit here for Emily Cooper on first aid duty, for her ingenuity in dressing Roebuck’s facial wound, which was a close call between taping his mouth shut and strangling him.

The bench saw three characters itching to get into the mix as soon as possible and would normally grace any starting fifteen but for the sheer numbers of class players available at present and the need to keep every contender at the top of their game. Front row replacement was hardy perennial Adam Newcombe to add his considerable experience anywhere in the pack, with back row contenders, Billy Burgin and Freddy Wharton keen to perform enough to regain their places in the starting line-up.

In cooling, cloudy conditions and with a slight cross field breeze, Ripon opted to play uphill and received the kick off. The reception was a formality and ground cleared by Bray, taking play back into the home half. Early probes by both teams saw play drift around midfield and with a brace of Penalties conceded by each, neither side looked like developing any real penetration. After the hosts missed a Penalty Goal attempt on the quarter hour, the opening score came two minutes later, after the missed kick was kept in play by Roebuck to feed Clark to clear. With the ball not finding touch, the hosts set about returning with interest and after three phases taking the ball infield and then to the right again, touched down in the corner for an Unconverted Try and take the lead 5 – 0.

From the restart, the Ripon pressure piled on and the hosts conceded a Penalty at kickable distance for Bray to open the Ripon score to 5 – 3. From this, play hotted up with both sides putting in some pacy plays and stretching each other around the fringes. Next up for Ripon on 26 minutes was the lead taking score from Roebuck, a lead that Ripon retained for the rest of the game. A Penalty touch effort from Bray was kept in by the Bramley Full Back who linked in with his Wing to take play into midfield. A big hit by Wood saw the ball spilled and Wood took the initiative to counter. Wray linked in to add his pace and made some hard yards scattering defenders at will before feeding on to Roebuck to touch down. Bray’s conversion took the score to 5 – 10. The second quarter went more in favour of Ripon, with a succession of Penalties being conceded by the hosts as they desperately tried to get back in the game. Bray closed the half emphatically with his second Penalty Goal from 40 metres out and ended the first half with Ripon leading 5 – 13.

The second half started like a dream with Bray’s lofted kick off resulting in Wharton turning over the catcher and Ripon awarded the Penalty for the hosts holding on in the tackle in just 28 seconds. Bray added the Penalty Goal with just a minute played and took the score to 5 – 16. A good run of play by Bramley saw them threaten the Ripon line and a succession of Penalties took them to scoring distance. A near miss Penalty Goal attempt on 4 minutes relieved the pressure and Ripon eased back into gear.

The next 10 minutes saw little movement either way until on the 20-minute mark two successive Penalties saw the hosts knocking on The Blues’ door again. A case of mistaken identity saw Bray despatched to the sin bin for 10 minutes and in the confusion, Bramley took the quick tap and despite a number of implausible ways of getting over the line, were permitted their second Try. The missed Conversion was heaven sent and the score remained at 10 – 16.

Nearing the half hour, as Ripon pressed deep into home territory through Wood in particular up the middle and Hooley exciting with his turn of pace and evasiveness, the latter crossed the whitewash after a pacy run in and with Bray’s missed conversion attempt, the score moved up to 10 – 21. Despite further efforts by the hosts to get back in the game, Graham stepped up to score on the 37th Minute of the second half. A dynamic leap by Wray kept a home Penalty touch kick in play for Burgin to collect and feed Bray. Wharton was set loose toward the right touchline and was joined by Newcombe to batter his way through. Tom Graham, now acting as Scrum Half, was quick off the mark to carry forward and close the final yards to touch down. Bray was just wide of the Conversion attempt but the score of 10 – 26 was looking like an insurmountable lead for Bramley to recover from.

Play continued way after normal time and whilst it may have been to help the hosts increase their scoring potential, Ripon were having none of it. This with 51 minutes of the second half played, Ripon were firmly in the driving seat and from destroying the home scrum, Graham was quick out of the blocks again to feed Wood and then Hooley again to take the ball deep into home territory. As the phases built up, Barker, Wood again and Veitch joined in the party, with slick hands up to the home line. As the crowds gathered around the final push, Austin burst clear to score Ripon’s fourth and bonus point winning Try. Bray added the Conversion as the last play of the game and settled the score at 10 – 33.

Quite an achievement to take a five-point win on the road and one which the Ripon squad will be very pleased and proud of. Again, a great blend of youthful skill, pace and exuberance and the solid experience of a handful of senior players, working together to play for each other. A great result and great testament to the commitment of the squad members to training and making themselves available each week.

Next Saturday 23rd September, Ripon are back on the road again for their next league encounter away against old friends and rivals Yarnbury. How Ripon fair on the magic carpet of the host’s all-weather pitch will be important to maintaining this season’s success. The kick off will be 3.00pm and all travelling supporters will be welcome.