Aiming to finish their league season on a high after the previous week’s emphatic victory against Bradford & Bingley, Ripon travelled to the surprisingly un-murky depths of West Yorkshire to face an in-form Halifax Vandals outfit. Not a forgiving place to visit at the best of times, under the watchful gaze of the Tower of Orthanc, known locally as Wainwright’s Tower, the wild and windy hillside of Warley, despite the bright sunshine, offered nothing but cold comfort for Ripon. In a game of two halves, The Blues competed as best as they could, though with an unsteady set piece, were always going to play down expectations of quick, quality ball and had no real answers to the host’s pressure later on.

In this last league game of the season, Ripon were keen to retain their position in third place – the highest the club has finished in some two decades; by either winning emphatically, or by fourth placed Baildon not gaining any points. The former soon looked unachievable and so thankfully the latter resulted as wished. So despite Ripon crashing out of this tougher game than was anticipated, the result between fourth placed Baildon and second placed Yarnbury went in The Blues’ favour and so the kudos of third place was celebrated, though somewhat mutedly.

With yet more changes due to injuries and other unavailability, Ripon’s squad again looked quite different from the last one fielded. Notable returnees to the team were Will Barrett at Full Back after a break of a few months, James Woolfenden at Centre after almost a whole season’s unavailability and Billy Fletcher, back from his oriental adventures. All quality players in their own right, but somewhat “ring rusty” through lack of game time. Other recalls came for Oscar Lees at Blind Side and James Cooper and Matt Binks as backs finishers. Two notable debuts came for new signing John Clouston to bring an extra dynamic at Number 10 and a promotion from regular 2nd XV duties for Niall Maddock as utility forward replacement. Elsewhere in selection this week, we saw 10 changes overall, with apart from the two debuts, six recalls in total and two positional changes to bring balance to the re-arranged squad.

“Abo” Sovatabua made his third consecutive start on the Left Wing and emerging Colt, Zac Kirby on the right. Both unable to live up to their potential due to the close marking in midfield and the lack of flow of usable ball to the edges. A couple of meaningful runs each, excited the crowd but didn’t result in the necessary penetration and scores. Tom Roebuck continued to realise his ambition and following in the footsteps of many Flankers before him, of converting full time to a place in the Centres. On this occasion, confined mainly to a defensive role, “Bucky” may well have wished to be back in the pack. Tom Graham competed the back line up with his second successive “back to my roots” guesting at Scrum Half. Putting in his usual workmanlike and aggressive attacking performance Tom was perhaps stunted somewhat by the back foot-ball from scrums and the seemingly endless torrent of off side opposition at the line outs.

In the pack, Keith Anderson retained the number one jersey for the seventh successive week and had some impactful early carries. Skipper James Pearce kept the Hooker berth and the venerable Newcombe held his own in a somewhat uncomfortable shift at Tight Head. The Boiler house saw Barker’s fourth game on the trot and Billy Fletcher’s welcome return. The back row was all change again, with a brace of Oscars this week, Lees on the Blind Side and Way on the Open. Harry Veitch completed the triumvirate at Number 8. The bench saw recalls for Cooper and Binks as back replacements and a debut for Maddock, all three of whom brought some energy and pace in the latter stages of the match.
The game started well for Ripon with an uphill challenge and a stiff breeze blowing directly across the pitch and the referee managing the host’s activities at the breakdown sternly. The points advantage came Ripon’s way first, with a penalty goal from Clouston for 0 – 3 after just five minutes.

The next half hour saw both sides testing each other out, with the hosts exploiting their scrum advantage and one up runners in close order and Ripon ruling the airwaves at the line out through Oscar Way and looking to go wide early. Both styles cancelled each other out, with continuity for both sides impacted by both rigorous defence and unforced errors. Vandals broke the deadlock and took the lead on 34 minutes after a scrum just inside the Ripon 22 allowed their nippy Scrum Half to jink through the defence to touch down. The converted try gave Vandals the lead at 7 – 3.

A break out by the hosts from the restart saw a couple of phases of attack up the touchline and with no clear sighting of a grounding, the Referee gave Vandals the benefit of some considerable doubt and awarded a try. The conversion took the hosts to 14 – 3 and Ripon looked decidedly uncomfortable as to how this was going to pan out. The final play of the half saw Ripon delve deep into home territory and from a scrum penalty Clouston kicked for touch 5 metres out. Way leapt like a Salmon in the line out to secure possession and the quick feed to the right saw Roebuck make for the crash in the midfield. From the breakdown. Pearce carried on for Lees and Fletcher to get involved in the short order work. Having started the move, it was only fitting that man of the match Oscar Way, stepped the final tackle and after a fine re-adjustment, plunged over for Ripon’s opening and final try. Clouston’s conversion reduced the deficit to 14 – 10 and The Blues looking more confident at the break than expected.

The second half gave Ripon more opportunities to exploit their considerable pace and skill out wide, if they could only weather the storm up front and get some decent go forward ball. Way continued to do his best at the line out but overall, things just started to close in on The Blues that belied the talent in the squad and exposed the lack of fitness and match practice. In a Ying and Yang reversal of refereeing decisions, the hosts who’d been penalised some nine times in the first half, could seemingly do no wrong in the second and it was Ripon who bore the brunt of decisions about law transgressions. With seven penalties conceded and three yellow cards in the last 15 minutes, it looked to all intents and purposes that Ripon were attempting to win at all costs. However, even the most uninitiated of spectators would know that one is unlikely to win a game with 13 players on the pitch.

Vandals opened the second half scoring up early on from a tackle offence involving Sovatabua. Sensibly opting for a scrum, the hosts shipped the ball out swiftly and unopposed for their Wing to score in the corner. The conversion defeated the wind nicely for an increase of the score to 21 – 10. Ripon clung onto some hope after a high tackle resulted in a yellow card for the hosts and Clouston banged over another penalty for 21 – 13.

That was it for Ripon unfortunately. As the Referee became less tolerant of whatever it was The Blues were doing, the more Vandals got into the game and with Graham despatched for a high tackle, followed closely by Fletcher, any prospective momentum was lost. The weight of numbers played better for Vandals and following Fletcher’s sending off, a scrum was called for instead of a kick. The inevitable happened then and following some spirited attempts by the Ripon backs to halt progress, the bonus point winning try arrived for Vandals. Another hefty conversion into the wind gave the hosts their final scoreline of 28 – 13.

The last 5 minutes degenerated into some ill-tempered exchanges as the hosts looked to hold onto their lead at all costs and Ripon sought to get some sort of result. With the sending off of Roebuck at the final whistle for being dragged into a fight, that was the unnecessary icing on the cake.

From a lessons learned perspective; Ripon couldn’t have fared any better with the personnel available. Quality players are brilliant if fully fit and well-integrated into squad training and playing. Hats off to everyone who made themselves available this week. It takes a lot to step up and step into the fray at this stage of the season and so much to play for. Credit to Oscar Way for his man of the match display of tactical appreciation at the line out and raw aggression in open play. A timely welcome to Niall Maddock for his impact in the final fifteen minutes of play, another one to watch for the future. And finally, a warm welcome to Clouston for his settling into a baptism of fire so well and notching up seven points with his boot from his debut.

Ripon now have a gap of two full weeks to lick their wounds and regather their strength to rejoin competitive Rugby in round two of the Papa John Community Cup Competition on Saturday 26th April away at Baildon. Seeking to replicate last season’s glory of winning this prestigious trophy, The Blues will be looking to lay the bogey of Jenny Lane to rest, with a win. Travelling supporters will be very welcome for the 3.00 kick off.