Ripon vs Yarnbury - Saturday 6th January 2024

Making up for the drubbing suffered back in September in which the two sides seemed poles apart, Ripon stuck to their game plan, weathered the storm at times and ran out worthy if close winners of this clash with top of the table Yarnbury. Dominating many phases of play including total control of the set piece, The Blues showed tenacity and great resilience in piecing together multiple phases of play and large swathes of territorial advantage. Were it not for the robust defensive play by the visitors and a handful of over-egged efforts by themselves, Ripon could have made the score different from what it was but patience and discipline won the game eventually. The second half penalty tally of four conceded by Ripon to Yarnbury’s eleven, was testament to their cool headedness and better reading of the enthusiastic and fair Referee, who stood no nonsense at the breakdown. Fine margins are what win games at this level sometimes and on this occasion, whilst neither place kicker was on finest form, it was Bray’s precision with the boot in the second half that restored the lead for Ripon after 73 minutes and the clinical execution of the rest of the squad in keeping on the right side of the law until the game played out. A nail-biting moment in the dying seconds saw the visitors break out on what looked to all intents like a certain scoring and winning attack and thankfully shut down by the speedy Referee’s observation of a critical forward pass. Thus after drawing six-all at half time, Ripon put in the necessary effort to overtake their visitors’ lead and gain the vital league points. Yarnbury consoled themselves with a losing bonus point and maybe kicked themselves for their poor discipline, yet good luck to keep all players on the pitch after so many repeat offences.

After a lay off for the best part of three weeks, Ripon were again in a strong position to select two good squads to face the opposition and despite a couple of last minute drop outs, fielded a 1st team as good as any so far this season and one to provide a balance of graft and creativity. In the backs, Mikey Bray started at Full Back and had a strong game fielding defensively and linking well in the counter attacks. Missing two out of four Penalty Goal attempts was more than compensated for with the mighty 73rd minute Conversion that sealed the victory. With a tally of eight points from the game, Bray’s record keeps increasing week on week. This week’s Wings saw a welcome return to speedster Steve Youngson to keep people guessing with his lightning quick direction changes and Tommy “One Direction” Graham scoring his 10th Try of the season. The Centres saw a refresh with Liam Wood stepping in at Inside and putting in a strong supporting role to keep momentum going and Freddy Wharton adopting his second favourite position at Outside. The half backs saw Archie Thompson put in a storming display at Number 10 and Max Marston overcoming some highly pressurised times at Scrum Half. The pair instrumental in linking the strong penetration from Ripon’s mobile pack and the elusiveness of the back line in full flow.

Up front, the late loss of Dalby gave George Evans a well-deserved start at Loose Head and erstwhile and infinitely adaptable Adam Newcombe a comfy ride at Tight Head to enable him to deliver some hard carries with ball in hand. James Pearce made up the Tribunal with his usual tireless contribution in all phases. In their fifth consecutive pairing, Tom Roebuck and Skipper Iain Barker provided the power behind the scrum in the second row, both contributing massively in the wet work at the breakdown. The back row saw Tom Austin recalled at Blind Side to add his experience and game control, Harry Veitch showing his pace and aggression at Open Side and Man of the Match Nick Perez, simply obliterating everything in his path, like a rampant buffalo, making yard after yard of ground with ball in hand. An unassuming character, who lets his athletic prowess do the talking and creates so many opportunities from his rampaging runs and fearless tackling, Perez is a one of a kind who could play pretty much anywhere in the pack and excel. This week’s bench saw the recall of Keith Anderson and Joe Middlemiss as utility forwards to mix it up wherever they played and Matt Binks, to bring his pace and guile to the backs.

In cool but thankfully still conditions, Ripon opted to receive the kick off and so the game commenced on a clean but somewhat soggy surface. Buoyed by the presence of President Anderson, the match sponsor’s guests, the home crowd were in good voice and offered great encouragement to the Blues as they set off in earnest.

First touch was to Barker who took contact and through quick recycling, set Graham off on the first of his many runs. With Graham hauled down illegally, Bray kicked for touch unsuccessfully and let the visitors back in for their first attack with ball in hand. Early exchanges saw Ripon looking more creative with their shape of play and asserting an early strength at the scrum and line out. An opportunity for Ripon to take the lead at 7 minutes was confusingly missed when Bray’s attempted Penalty Goal for a breakdown offence resulted in two Touch Judge flags being raised, yet the Referee determining it a no goal. Yarnbury were obviously encouraged by the let off and within two minutes had taken the lead with a successful Penalty Goal attempt for 0 – 3.

After half an hour of lively activity from both sides, with Ripon edging the territorial advantage, the big carries of the hosts were starting to tell and Yarnbury conceded a further Penalty within Bray’s range for him to level the scores at 3 – 3 on 35 minutes. The visitors responded positively again and after a breakdown offence on 26 minutes, aimed to increase the score but just missed a Penalty Goal attempt. They did however, retake the lead with a further Penalty Goal for 3 – 6 on 36 minutes.

Strong reaction from Ripon for the closing minutes of the half saw Graham and Youngson making good ground and Perez, Veitch and Newcombe smashing it up the middle. Injury time started ticking away and with the visitors trying to exploit their possession to the end of the half, they conceded a Penalty on 45 minutes, which Bray ably knocked over to level the scores on the whistle 6 – 6.

The half time team talk reiterated the pre-match narrative – carry hard, support hard and use the phases patiently to get into a scoring position. Taking nothing for granted, The Blues kicked off the second half downhill and immediately pressed Yarnbury onto back pedalling to their 22. Ripon kept up the pressure for the rest of the third quarter and came close through strong runs from Binks and Veitch. Against the run of play however, Yarnbury broke out up the left touchline uphill and through sound offloading and support, crossed Ripon’s line for the first Try of the game at 57 minutes. The touchline Conversion attempt didn’t have the legs and so the score settled at 6 – 11.

The final quarter saw Ripon dig deep and make repeated probes into enemy territory only to be repulsed. Getting ever closer to the visitors’ line on 73 minutes, Ripon were offered a five-metre scrum put in. Rock solid, the pack nudged forward a metre or so before unleashing Perez to the right. Stopped just short of the line, with all the forwards drifting in the same direction, Marston fed Graham coming in off his wing to the left and “Tommy G” crashed over through the withering defence. Bray made no mistake of the Conversion to allow Ripon to take the lead 13 – 11.

Ripon aimed to turn the screw harder in the dying minutes of the game and succeeded to an extent. With Yarnbury conceding so many penalties in the last few minutes, it seemed almost impossible for them to get a grip back on the game, but indeed they did on the 40th minute, when an audacious run out of their 22 took the visitors almost to half way. A final pass fairly adjudged to be forward was their downfall and to make matters worse, the dissenting appeal resulted in the Referee awarding a Penalty. With time left on the clock and seeing the scrum as the safest option, Ripon took their time to settle and put in. Marston fed Thompson under some enthusiastic pressure from the visitors, but young Archie cleared in style for the final whistle to blow in the nick of time. The final score of 13 – 11 was enough to show what Ripon are capable of and how fragile sitting at the top of the table can be. This result saw Ripon remain at fifth place in Counties 2 Yorkshire but with some confidence that the top half of the table is wide open to any one of six teams who want it.

Ripon 1st XV are back on the road next week at second placed Wath Upon Dearne. The Blues will be keen to achieve a “third time lucky” victory after the last two nail-bitingly close encounters when they came off second best on both occasions. Kick off will be at 2.15, all travelling supporters very welcome.