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Ripon 1xv
Matches
Sat 30 Nov 2024  ·  Counties 2 Yorkshire
Bradford & Bingley
18
17
Ripon Rugby Union Football Club
Ripon 1xv
Ripon vs Bradford & Bingley - Saturday 30th November 2024

Ripon vs Bradford & Bingley - Saturday 30th November 2024

Becky Naylor4 Dec 2024 - 12:11

“Play your cards right…” - MATCH REPORT by BOB CHAMPION

With high hopes of returning to winning ways and clearly “bookies’ favourites” to do so, Ripon took to the road to West Yorkshire with some confidence of a decent result. Not having faced the once illustrious Bradford & Bingley in anger for many a year and taking some comfort from their hosts’ meteoric fall from grace, this was still an unknown quantity for The Blues. Not taking anything for granted, Ripon prepared appropriately and even though somewhat bemused by their lack of permission to warm up on the actual playing surface, took to the field in as good a shape as they’ve been recently, with decent expectations of a five-point win. Slipping on their third banana skin in a row however, Ripon succumbed to another tragic loss by less than three points in the dying stages of a match that looked home and dry for them at half time. Falling foul of indiscipline late on, Ripon suffered the indignity of being reduced to 13 players for only five minutes of the second period, but that was just enough to allow the hosts to chip away at Ripon’s healthy 5 - 17 lead and eventually turn more pressure into points and take the win.

Just a single losing bonus point consolation for Ripon again, but enough to keep the wolves at bay and allow The Blues to cling onto third place in the league with 36 points. Ten behind second placed Yarnbury and just a three-point gap between them and fourth placed Baildon, Ripon will be working intensely on their final two games of this half of the season to build on their exceptionally strong and well-structured style of play and endless stream of young, talented players. Perhaps some more focus on discipline and game management decision making will help? This still young Blues side has much to offer and just needs to harness the success factors of the early season outings, with some consistent application and get back into consistently thorough and effective performances to press on with divisional title hopes.

The Ripon squad was quite distinguishable from the last one fielded, with yet another ten changes to the line-up. Amongst the five recalls were Dom Dalby to bring some power to the scrum and go forward in attack and Henry Hanson for his blistering pace out wide. Two new debuts for Colts Tom Severn at Scrum Half and Zak Kirby on the Wing, the latter scoring a try in his opening adult game. Both acquitted themselves with presence and maturity and like so many of their predecessors, look to be fine prospects for the future of the club.

The full line up saw Harry Drane at Full Back again and one of the just two backs in unchanged positions from last week. New boy Zak Kirby emerged from his successful Colt place into the adult game at Right Wing and despite his slight frame, acquitted himself creditably in all aspects of play. Henry Hanson returned to the Fray on the opposite Wing and also made some fine breaks despite the worst of the opposition’s attention. A new look Centre pairing saw the versatile Jacob Drane at Inside and Tommy Graham at Outside. The former doing everything necessary defensively and making some good openings in attack and the latter, well just doing what he normally does in creating chaos with ball in hand. A tad exuberant in defence this week and the yellow card for a high tackle will bring him back down to earth nicely. Nick Daley was the other back to keep his shirt this week and commanded the midfield with authority and grit. The second debutant at Scrum Half was Tom Severn, who whilst not getting on the scoreboard like his Colt teammate, put in a top-notch shift, with his high work rate, pace to the breakdown and powerful delivery to get things going.

The pack saw more stability with just two changes from last week’s selection. “Mack” Koroiyadi made his ninth consecutive start at Loose Head, the most consistent choice in the forwards so far this season and brought his considerable flair and experience as usual. Skipper Pearce had more involvement in the game than recently, settling into his leadership role well and minimising its impact on playing performance. The legendary Adam Newcombe started at Tight Head to soften up the opposition for the welcome return of Dalby. The second row saw Billy Fletcher to step up from the bench from last week to partner club stalwart and behavioural exemplar Iain Barker, who following an uncharacteristic fall from grace in the second half, missed the final fifteen minutes of the game and the following week. The back row had a touch of “Back to the Future” about it, with again a trio of youngsters, full of energy, commitment and testosterone. Roebuck reigned supreme in the line out, Butterill gave great go forward from the set piece and Veitch, well what can you say… And finally, Ripon’s bench was ably occupied by Dom Dalby seeking to get back into action after a brief injury lay off and Oscar Lees and Toby Boyce, both bringing their youthful exuberance to anywhere they were placed.

In the mild and slightly damp conditions of mid-Airedale, the crowds from Ripon gathered in the sunshine, soon to be replaced by gloom and by far outweighed the locals in the comfort of the stand. The hardy home crowd choosing to stay close to the bar to ensure their hydration needs were fulfilled and so fuel their encouragement for their team. Very refreshing it was, to see so many of the Ripon faithful making the effort to travel this week, particularly the friends and families of the two Colts on their debuts. Apart from the result, their efforts were well-rewarded.

The first quarter of the match was a mix of arm wrestling and who’d blink first, as both sides got to grips with each other and tested their strengths and weaknesses. Early exchanges saw Koroiyadi, Newcombe and Roebuck making strong breaks. It was the hosts however, who broke the deadlock on the quarter hour from a penalty for holding on, a quick tap was taken to catch Ripon napping and score an unconverted try for 5 – 0. Gradually, Ripon looked to their strengths and through the likes of Pearce, Newcombe and Koroiyadi, started to make deeper inroads and question the Bees’ defence. Butterill and Veitch were particularly strong in support and Severn’s delivery was on point for Daley to get things moving.

After steadily composing themselves and regaining their usual shape and structure, The Blues also beefed up their defensive efforts to repel further attacks. As the Ripon game began to flow at pace, some big carries by Butterill and Newcombe started to make ground. At 28 minutes, after Roebuck stole a home line out, Barker broke the line for Jacob Drane to press on with Daley. Into space, Daley fed Graham to smash his way past the next tackler and romp in 40 metres to score. Harry Drane added the conversion for Ripon to take the lead at 5 – 7.
The following ten minutes were pretty much all Ripon, with gaps starting to appear all over the place and The Blues just not quite finding their clinical finish. Just into injury time however, everything clicked. From a penalty line out, Koroiyadi and Daley linked well to punch a hole in the defence and Zak Kirby looped round in support to outpace the remainder for his debut try and Ripon’s lead of 5 – 12 on the half time whistle.
The second half started strongly for Ripon and they were soon in the driving seat with expansive handling plays and dominating the home line out at will. The loss of Barker to a yellow card after 10 minutes didn’t faze The Blues at all as a home player was similarly despatched at the same time. Edging nearer to the home line, Ripon looked to exploit their strike strength and from a five-metre scrum, Butterill was unstoppable for Ripon’s third, though unconverted try but a lead of 5 -17.

The final quarter saw The Bees gradually get some wind back in their sails and start to play with some character. Conversely, Ripon’s well-oiled machine began creaking and the hosts started to make more inroads. A penalty goal on 63 minutes narrowed the deficit to 8 – 17 and then the loss of Tom Graham, yellow carded for a tackle offence, gave The Bees the opening they needed. At just past 70 minutes, the hosts broke from a scrum and found the gap in the Ripon defence to let them run in their second try virtually unopposed. The conversion took the score to a tantalising 15 – 17.

The icing on the cake for the hosts came after 75 minutes when Barker was despatched again for a second yellow card and The Bees tails were well and truly up. Ripon seemed to run out of ideas at this point and in desperation started to make errors and gave the hosts the upper hand. After two minutes of injury time, the ground fell silent as the hosts were offered a kickable penalty for a breakdown offence, which they took to regain the lead at 18 – 17.

Fortuitously for Ripon, the Referee’s time keeping was somewhat amiss and the game continued. With a further six minutes of play and two further penalty opportunities, The Blues were straight back into the fray and pressing hard to retake the lead and the game. Sterling efforts took Ripon up to The Bees’ five metre line for a line out, which up to then looked a formality for a score. Somehow the previously precise communications went to pot and the ball appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time for a knock on. The final whistle for the break in play was welcomed with joy by the hosts and Ripon left kicking themselves over what could have been a bonus point win on the road but for a little more concentration. As far as playing your cards right is concerned, whilst the harder you practice the “luckier you get”, this team really is due a good deal.

An inauspicious end to a mostly solid Ripon performance. This squad has plenty of talent and character and on its day, the ability to clinically execute game plans. A confidence booster is needed sooner rather than later and so The Blues will be looking to ramp up efforts to return to winning ways before the Christmas break.

Next week, Ripon are back at home and entertain old friends and rivals Roundhegians at Mallorie Park on Saturday 6th December for a 2.15pm kick off, all supporters very welcome.

Match details

Match date

Sat 30 Nov 2024

Kickoff

TBC

Competition

Counties 2 Yorkshire

League position

3
Ripon
8
Bradford & Bingley
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Main Club Sponsor - Bronco
Major Club Sponsor - Theakstons
Shirt Sponsor - Econ
Shirt Sponsor - Dales Water
Shirt Sponsor - Paul Blood Driving School
Shirt Sponsor - Direct Sports Lighting
Major Club Sponsor - Ripon Interiors
Shirt Sponsor - Work Based Pensions
Club Sponsor - K A Anderson
Fit for Rugby, Fit for Life - RipFit