In dire weather, fitting for the cusp between Autumn and Winter, Ripon suffered another away defeat, this time at the hands of a more passionate Halifax Vandals at the weekend. In cold dark and damp conditions, despite a spirited start and an early lead, Ripon succumbed to the power of the home defence and the host’s sharpness to exploit opportunities in attack.

The scoreline didn’t reflect Ripon’s early dominance, or their tireless efforts to keep the scoreboard ticking over in their favour, but highlighted the importance of keeping 15 players on the pitch for the whole game and seeing territorial and possessional advantages through to scoring chances.

This week’s Ripon squad fielded a stable platform, with no changes from last week’s pack and two positional changes in the backs, with Matthew Binks taking the Full Back role and Tom Graham reverting to his naturalised Wing position to accommodate the recall of James Woolfenden at Centre. The bench had a new look line up of Elliot Fearn as dedicated forward replacement, Niall Maddock as a utility impact player and Henry Hanson as an out and out speedster in the backs.

Ripon started with purpose and established numerous plays of multiple phases. Patience was key in the early stages as Vandals showed from the outset that their defence was not going to stand any nonsense, but Ripon kept up the relentless pressure. Two penalty goals from Morgan Clark at four and fifteen minutes respectively, were just reward to Ripon’s resilience and determination. Also a solid recognition of the robustness of the Vandals’ defence and taking points opportunities as they arose wisely.

The first fly in Ripon’s ointment was the yellow carding of Iain “Uno” Barker in a case of mistaken identity at the end of the first quarter. Fortunately that didn’t lead to a home score, but the loss to the pack at scrum time was lamented and enabled the hosts to at last get a foothold in the game. A missed penalty goal attempt by Vandals on 25 minutes should have been a warning to Ripon to tighten things up but that was the end of their scoring for the day.

At 28 minutes, a Ripon scrum was nudged off the ball to give the hosts possession from which they scored their opening converted try to take the lead at 7 – 6. At 35 minutes and with the Ripon pack tiring under the pressure, Vandals opted for a scrum from a penalty. In a simple Number 8 break to the left, the hosts increased their lead with a converted try to 14 – 6 and half time beckoning. An opportunity to reduce the deficit arose with a penalty to Ripon on 38 minutes for a high tackle, but Clark’s goal attempt just swing wide. There the score remained until the break.

The second half was very much a war of attrition with both sides putting together some impressive multi-phase periods in attack. The yellow carding of a home forward early on should have given some advantage to the visitors, but it didn’t come to fruition. The hosts weathered the storm as the rain increased in intensity and the gloom became more gloomy.

At the end of the third quarter, the hosts were knocking on the Ripon line and an off side offence offered them a five metre scrum. As the scrum went down and a further penalty was awarded, a further indiscretion resulted in a second yellow and so a red card against Ripon and so the end of the beginning started in earnest.

From the reset penalty scrum, Vandals trudged over the whitewash and scored their third converted try for 21 – 6. Both sides went at the final quarter with some gusto but nobody got any closer to scoring.

In summary, a disappointing afternoon for The Blues and to come away without scoring any tries and being denied a losing bonus point were a bitter pill to swallow. Not exactly a case of back to the drawing board, but what does this talented squad need to do, to turn their energy, enthusiasm and quality into points earning and match winning performances?

Next week, Ripon are back at home for more league action versus Baildon on Saturday 6 December and the hope of better fortune. All support for the 2.15pm kick off will be very welcome.