Ripon stopped the recent rot in a nail-biting finale to beat second placed Old Otliensians in a thrilling spectacle at Mallorie Park. With their first win in five matches, The Blues played arguably their most committed and gutsy game of the season so far. Under the watchful gaze of perhaps 200 spectators who turned out to acknowledge the sad passing of club, county, country and British & Irish Lions stalwart Peter Squires with a minute’s applause pre-match, this was as fitting a tribute as any to the late sporting legend.

In dull, damp and chilly conditions, with a slight easterly breeze, the weather and soggy pitch surface didn’t bode well for a flowing game. With nine tries in total however, both sides played some enterprising and very entertaining Rugby throughout. In a toughly fought and very close encounter of a first half, the break loomed with the honours even at seven all, with a converted try each. The second half saw Ripon turn on the after-burners and notch up a 26 – 10 lead just up to the final quarter, earning a try bonus on the way and one more for luck. The opposition just didn’t know how to quit, and kept on fighting back to eventually take the lead 26 – 29 with just one minute of normal time to go. Down but not out and throwing all caution to the wind, which nearly ended in disaster, Ripon grabbed the game by the throat and with the assistance of two further penalties deep into injury time, clinched the win with a last second converted try. The jubilation of the players, officials and spectators was a wonder to behold and of epic proportions comparable to the cup final win of two years ago. The five league points gained were very welcome, but sadly didn’t impact on Ripon’s eighth place in the division. Some considerable comfort though, in The Blues’ ability to dig deep, find the necessary energy and dedication to get back to winning ways.

Selection this week saw just seven changes from the previous line up, with exciting returns for “Abo” Sovatabua on the Wing and Allan Hudson putting in a man of the match performance at Open Side. Joe Midlemiss made a welcome return to the second row; Ben Rickard came back into the fray as forward replacement and Sakiusa Komaitai brought his Pacific flair to the bench to liven up the backs. Alex Riley moved up from Full back to his natural starting position at Scrum Half and excelled throughout the game and Jordan Layne stepped up from last week’s bench to start at Blind Side.

Pre-match, the changing room narrative was about restoring pride, refreshing desire and delivering on commitment. This squad certainly did that and despite a few hair-raising moments, came good to entertain the crowd and reinstate Mallorie Park as a welcoming and hospitable place to visit, but a tough place to get a result if you’re not a local.

Ripon received the opening kick, playing uphill, with the wind. Layne gathered and through a couple of recycles, Clark cleared deep. A visitor fumble gave Ripon the first scrum put in of the game at two minutes and quick ball saw Centre James Collins show early signs of his penetrative abilities. Some early penalty exchanges enabled the Referee to set out his stall and encourage both sides to stick to the laws. A penalty count of 13 – 11 in favour of Ripon showed just how much listening and learning went on and with Ripon suffering a yellow and a red card dismissal in the second half, showed how important discipline is in tight games.

Despite favourable tactical and territorial play by Ripon, Old Ots opened the scoring at the start of the second quarter, with a lightning strike from their top scoring Wing. From a midfield scrum, the visitors shipped the ball quickly to the left and the speedster used his pace and balance to bypass the defence. The conversion took the score to 0 – 7. Ripon bounced back with some lively play, with Davies-Taylor, Hudson and Middlemiss dominating carrying for the pack and Collins and Graham doing the same in the backs. At 30 minutes played, Ripon executed the perfect line out catch and drive from a Clark penalty touch kick. Veteran Prop Adam Newcombe nimbly completed the final metre with ball in hand to open Ripon’s scoring. Clark added the first of his four conversions, which with his second half try, took his tally of the day to 13 points and 123 for the season to date and “Even Stephens” at 7 - 7. Old Ots finished the second quarter strongly and a flurry of penalties in their favour challenged Ripon somewhat. A late penalty goal attempt by Old Ots just fell wide, so the thin blue line held intact and when the half time whistle blew, both sides knew they were in a tight and tough game.

The second half started well for the visitors with a couple of early penalties going their way and a penalty goal to regain the lead at 7 – 10. Ripon fought back again and from a line out, Hudson appeared twice in the play that involved Newcombe, Jacob Drane and Layne, before Davies-Taylor crashed over. Clark was unlucky with the long range conversion but the score took Ripon just ahead at 12 – 10.

Next up after just five minutes, a penalty line out win by Hudson, drove through several phases, including scintillating runs by Sovatabua and Graham before Clark touched down. Converting his own try, Clark took The Blues further into the lead at 19 – 10. A downside for Ripon came on the cusp of the third and fourth quarters, when Komaitai was harshly despatched with a yellow card for a questionable high tackle.

Undeterred, Ripon stepped up the pace and through a poetically perfect passage of play, shrugged off the one-player-short challenge with perhaps the try of the season. Recovering from a visitor attack, Collins accelerated towards the left touchline and eventually linked with Sovatabua. The “Flying Fijian” covered the next 50 metres before offloading to the ever-present Hudson, then onto Clark and back to Hudson again. Davies-Taylor powered up in support and at the final breakdown of some superb passing and support running, added Ripon’s bonus point fourth and his second try. Clark converted for 26 – 10 and Ripon looked home and dry with 15 minutes to go.

Clearly Old Ots aren’t in second position in the division without a valid reason and within a couple of minutes of the restart, exploited their one man advantage to good effect with a speedy counter attack and a second converted try to narrow the gap to 26 – 17. Salt was then rubbed in Ripon’s wounds on 70 minutes when a break out by the visitors’ danger Winger took their attack up to within a sniff of the line. Full Back Hanson’s flailing arm attempt at a try-saving tackle “clotheslined” the opponent and the Referee had no choice but to award a penalty try and despatch Hanson with a red card.

At 26 – 24 and momentarily down to 13 men, Ripon did their best to cover the ground ably, but the weight of numbers from the opposition paid off and a further unconverted try by the guests edged them into the lead at 26 – 29 with just one minute to go. What followed as the last few moments played out and Komaitai returned to the field, was the stuff of dreams. The restart saw The Blues contest the catch and force a mis-kick, which Clark ably regathered. A fumbled offload though, led to the opposition gaining possession and heading for the home line in earnest. A penalty infringement at the eventual breakdown in the home 22, gave Ripon a lifeline and Clark renewed everyone’s faith and booted The Blues back into the opposition’s half. The line out went well and the usual suspects in the Ripon pack set up the driving maul for the Old Ots’ line. A cynical dive into the maul by a defending forward gave Ripon a last gasp shot at glory. The tapped penalty saw the Ripon big boys bashing the line until Hudson fittingly ended his superb performance with a well-deserved try. Clark added the conversion for 33 – 29 and the final whistle brought cheers and tears of joy to everyone in the Ripon camp.

A result that made no difference to either team’s league standings, but a massive morale boost to Ripon, who have shown such great potential but just been cruelly denied the right results for their aspirations.

Next week, Ripon are on the road across the Pennines to Lancashire to face Littleborough in the third round of the RFU National Cup Competition on Saturday 31 January. An exciting venture and a chance of a successful cup run that could see The Blues competing in a final at Twickenham. All travelling support for the 2.15pm kick off will be very welcome.