On a cold, damp day at Mallorie Park, two hungry teams, Ripon and Baildon clashed in a battle to break free from mid-table mediocrity. The home crowd, buzzing with anticipation, watched as Ripon staged a dramatic escape, snatching a draw in the dying moments of a fiercely fought contest.

From the first whistle, neither side gave an inch. Every tackle, every scrum, every missed opportunity added to the tension. Both teams played the conditions with grit and determination, turning what could have been a muddy slog into a showcase of skilful handling and relentless effort. Missed touch clearances and goal attempts kept fans on the edge of their seats, as the match became a story of “what might have been.” As the drama unfolded in the second half, Ripon muscled their way back into the contest and forced a draw from their epic revival.
For Ripon, the comeback was slow but heroic. Never ahead on the scoreboard, they clawed their way back, earning two crucial league points and landing seventh in a tightly packed table, with just six points separating the middle four teams!

The first half was a defensive masterclass, with brick wall defences, disciplined play, and only a single penalty goal separating the teams. The second half exploded with drama: Baildon surged ahead, but Ripon refused to surrender. Late penalties, a heart-stopping try, and a nerve-shredding touchline conversion by Clark brought the scores level at 16 – 16 as the crowd erupted!

In a match that was fiercely but fairly contested throughout, neither side dominated anywhere in particular and both will rue the chances that were missed from less than clinical execution. With both sides playing the conditions well, this was never going to be an afternoon of “Barbarian Rugby” though to be fair, the quality of handling was pretty good throughout. Some opportunities did however, go begging, with missed touch clearances and a brace of missed shots on goal each, this was a case of what might have been. Ripon will be very pleased with the solid if slow come back from a game in which they lagged behind in points and never managed to gain a lead. The Blues will also be content with the two league points for the draw, which leaves them with 19 points at seventh in the table and in a very messy midden, with only six points separating the middle four teams.

The coaching staff demanded aggression and creativity, and Ripon delivered with eleven bold changes to their lineup, with six recalls and five positional changes. To name but a few; James Cooper returned at Full Back, Sakiusa “Koms” Komaitai made a refreshing comeback at Outside Centre, and Player Coach Allan Hudson’s joined him in a midfield partnership to inject fresh energy. Man of the match Morgan Clark dazzled in the Number 10 jersey, racking up 11 points and lifting his season tally to 83!

In the pack, the comfort zone of the previous three weeks was shaken up due to various unavailability. Callum Burton made his first start after a recent bench appearance and Adam Newcombe shifted to Tight Head to make room. Billy Fletcher stepped in from the back row to second row and young Niall Maddock made his first starting line-up at Blind Side. The bench saw Sam Stoddart take a brief sojourn from his catering duties as front row replacement and Elliot Davies-Taylor made a welcome come back from injury. Matt Binks made up the final place as utility back replacement.

An eventful in terms of effort from both sides, yet almost scoreless first half, saw a fair contest at the set piece and both teams presenting brick wall defences. Ripon and Baildon both showed good continuity in building up phases and both were limited only by the success of their discipline. Conceding five penalties in the first half, the hosts were punished with a penalty goal and one miss. Ripon, however, were awarded more penalties at six but were unable to take any advantage in terms of the score line or territory gained.

Baildon broke the deadlock at six minutes into the second quarter with a well struck penalty goal to go 0 – 3 up and that was the only score of the half. Clark uncharacteristically missed a penalty goal attempt shortly afterwards and despite best endeavours to get on the score sheet, Ripon saw out the rest of the half battering away at the Baildon defences.

After the break and with a decent chink in the foul weather, Ripon started the second half well, playing down the infamous Mallorie Park slope. Despite The Blues’ best intentions, Baildon picked up where they left off and opened the scoring with a penalty goal for a tackle infringement for 0 – 6. Clark followed up with a retaliatory penalty goal after eight minutes for another breakdown indiscretion by the visitors to close the gap at 3 – 6.

A foul tackle by Middlemiss after ten minutes, gave the visitors a chance to increase their lead, but the penalty goal attempt went wide. A further off side decision against Ripon worked in Baildon’s favour and the penalty goal success widened the gap to 3 – 9. More than twenty minutes of slog ensued before a high tackle gave Clark another chance at goal, there being no way through the solid Baildon defence, to narrow the gap again to 6 – 9.

With just over seventy minutes played and both sides scratching their heads as to how to score a try, the sun shone momentarily on Baildon, when from a penalty touch kick, a quick move infield saw their Inside Centre wrong foot the Ripon defence to score under the posts for their first and only try. The conversion was a cinch and Baildon edged away to 6 – 16.

Down, but not out, Ripon dug deep and using their bench to full advantage, kept bringing fresh legs back into play to maintain the attacking momentum. At the point at which normal matches might have ended, Ripon were given a sniff of a losing bonus point at eighty one minutes for a Baildon off side. Clark coolly stepped up and reduced the deficit to 9 – 16 and at least one point in the bag with the game in extra time.
Unbelievably, the match continued and from a feisty restart pressure, The Blues forced Baildon into the “Clubhouse Corner” and a penalty for off side against the visitors, gave Ripon more hope. Noting Ripon’s percentages of doing better from a scrum than a line out and in front of the enthusiastic crowd of loyal locals, Skipper Pearce called for a scrum, just ten metres off the visitors line. Davies-Taylor picked at Number Eight and broke open to suck in several defenders. From the breakdown, the insightful Drane saw Newcombe clear on the touch line and switched the direction of the attack for the veteran prop to crash over. A respectful hush fell across Mallorie Park while Clark prepared for the touchline conversion attempt. Just as in his pre-match practice, the most impossible of goal kicks went over and the shrill blast for full time signified the end of an epic contest. Bringing the game to an end at 16 – 16 was a huge team effort, enabling the place kicking skills of Clark to get the result.

As the dust settled, Ripon reflected on their avoidance of the defeat and looked ahead to their next challenge. The team, fans, and coaches all hope for another electrifying performance, but maybe starting with a more cohesive and productive performance from the outset and with a little less nail-biting at the finish!

Next weekend, Ripon are the road again for the last league action of this half of the season, versus Huddersfield Laund Hill on Saturday 13 December. At least the closing moments of the game will be well enough illuminated for everyone to see what’s going on and hopefully a less nail-biting finale with Ripon comfortably in the driving seat. All travelling support for the 2.15pm kick off will be very welcome.