When faced with a gruelling two-hour journey to the coast, with a much-changed squad to face the second placed, promotion seeking mighty Bridlington on their home turf, one might expect a fair few questions to be answered. Such questions as:

How well would Ripon recover from their poor away form bogey of the early season in this, their longest journey? With eight changes from the previous week’s line up, which Ripon would turn up and might they be capable of repeating the massive upset from February this year, when The Blues demolished Bridlington at Mallorie Park by 32 – 5? Would the weather hold out; the glorious sunshine and dry conditions only disaffected by a stiff and bitter at times, Easterly onshore wind? Would whoever ended up playing, maintain focus on the matter in hand and not be distracted by the baying and whooping home crowd, vociferously swelled by the 140 odd partakers in the hosts’ “Ladies Day”, many of whom were adorned in headgear more akin to bird scaring than Royal Ascot? Would the previously encountered “man in the middle” remember the Ripon miscreants previously despatched from play in other games and look upon them prejudiciously?

Pertinent questions all of them and possibly the answers to which were of vital importance to many. The most important however, was the answer to the potentially damning question as to whether the photographic evidence supported the allegation that Zak Kirby was seen by purportedly credible witnesses, to be gracing a local hostelry at 3.00am on the morning before a quite important match? Enough about late-night hostelry adventures and what happened in Scarborough eventually later, stayed in Scarborough. With regard to the specific question, all will be revealed in due course.

The simple answer as to which Ripon would turn up, was the best it had to offer. With over 50 players selected to pull on the 1st XV jersey this year and still faced with challenges posed by injuries and other priorities apart from playing; Ripon continues to train thoroughly and field each week, a competitive squad. A squad that in the second half of this season, has shown immense character and resilience, to pound out some historic victories and defy the logic of some pundits who would have had the club washed up by Christmas. This second half of the season has shown some brilliant achievements and whilst not progressing the club up the league table significantly, has consolidated Ripon as a force to be reckoned with.

This week’s selection saw eight changes in all, with five recalls to replace absentees for various reasons: two positional changes to accommodate the disruption and a not too late debut for Jack Wright, on the bench as Ripon’s 51st 1st XV squad member of the season.
In the backs, Alex “your ball” Riley started at Full Back. Henry “Happy Feet” Hanson danced enthusiastically but un-productively with ball in hand at Right Wing and Zak “It wasn’t me” Kirby, put in a dazzling two try performance on the Left Wing. The Centres saw an interesting combination of grunt and groan. Sakiusa “Koms” Komaitai did the smash and grab work at inside and Olly “I wish I was a little bit taller” Lang-Burns, played a pivotal role in releasing Kirby for his brace. In the half backs, Tom Graham stepped in again at Number 10 and dispelled his “can’t kick, won’t kick” reputation, with a balanced display of keeping things going forward. Harry “I’ve got a window” Drane started and finished at Scrum Half and despite much of his possession being processed under serious pressure, made good use of the Ripon ball and added a conversion to one of Ripon’s two tries.

The pack had more of a stable look about it from last week’s dominant display, though two late call offs saw a reshuffle of the back row. Keith Anderson started at Loose Head, with skipper James Pearce retaining the Hooker berth and Adam Newcombe sticking with Tight Head and revealing his indignity at playing in his least favoured position by going home after the game. The second row saw the familiar arrangement of Iain “Get me to Burton Leonard at all costs” Barker and Billy “Saving myself for Lloret” Fletcher provide a strong base for Ripon’s immoveable scrum. The back row took on a different perspective; with Harry “Don’t push me” Veitch at Open Side and Jacob “I’ve never seen you before” Drane at Blind Side. Jordan Layne completed the set up at Number 8 and would have ruled the roost in the line out if sufficient ball had passed his way.

The bench was a matter of strength and honour, with Jack “Let me at ‘em” Stiddard as front row replacement. Niall, or is it Neil? Maddock added confusion and energy to the replacement options and last but not least – Jack “Wish I had a seat on the bus” Wright, added a lively contribution late on in the match. Another one to watch for the future. Assuming he can get on the bus?

The game kicked off in earnest with a wind assisted high ball from Harry and the recipient’s knock-on gifted Ripon immediate possession. Ripon countered with a blind side box kick which was returned to find touch. The first and second of The Blues line outs misfired and gave the hosts a good opportunity to catch and drive from both to good effect. The third line out, Bridlington’s ball this time, on four minutes, saw a mighty drive take the home pack some 30 metres into Ripon territory. A break infield saw two successive phases at pace and a touch down for an unconverted try and the hosts taking the lead 5 – 0.

The next few minutes saw Ripon struggling to get any quality possession against their bigger opposition and so when a penalty for off side gave the hosts a further three points for an 8 – 0 lead after only ten minutes, The Blues were in danger of losing composure. More woes befell Ripon when from the restart Graham found a decent touch and a Ripon throw. The third Blues line out went not straight though and from the ensuing scrum, the powerful home Number 8 broke and clattered his way through the defence. The well-timed offload inside the Ripon 22 saw the home Inside Centre step in to score Bird’s second try. The conversion making it 15 – 0.

From the next restart, Ripon finally found their groove and from a succession of penalties, started to string some strong phases together and used their possession more widely. As the half entered its final 10 minutes, Ripon benefitted from a penalty in front of the home posts and with a Brid player yellow carded for the high tackle offence; opted for a scrum. The pack held good and from Harry’s neat delivery, it was a simple matter of Graham to Koms and a looping miss pass out to Kirby for the touch down. Harry made easy work of the touchline conversion for 15 – 7 and the game suddenly come to life.

In the dying moments, Ripon were definitely in the driving seat and from a similar situation to a few moments ago, The Blues opted for another scrum close to the hosts’ line. Harry fed Graham again who went to go wide left and then straightened to feed Koms with the short ball. The abrasive Centre made light work of the defenders before feeding Riley coming into the line. Kirby was then on hand to finish with the touchdown in the same place as last time for his second try of the game and tenth of the season. Harry’s ambitious conversion attempt pulled just shy with the wind and the half time whistle blew for 15 – 12 and game on.

Despite Ripon putting in a far more cohesive second half display with ball in hand and pressuring the home line on several occasions, the next score just wasn’t forthcoming. For their efforts in smashing the Ripon defence, Brid furthered their scoring with two more penalty goals, a try and a converted try to no reply in the second half. A cruel irony that the hosts conceded a massive number of penalties at 17 against Ripon’s 8 but managed to score more points from them.

The Blues enjoyed the customary post-match hospitality before wending their weary way to the Grand Hotel Scarborough, for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. In summary, this was a game for the taking, but unavoidable personnel changes made this a quite different squad from the home leg. Only nine of the February team made it to travel to the coast, of whom only six played in the same position. This type of disruption isn’t conducive to achieving consistently good form and when you put it in the context of Ripon selecting some 35 different players before the Christmas break and 16 afterwards, that shows great strength in depth and is probably more players than most other clubs have in their entirety; but a challenge to continuity.

And so to the burning questions asked by Bridlington, somewhat trepidatious of being at the receiving end of another drubbing: “would the same Ripon turn up as played in February” and the one about Zak Kirby’s whereabouts on the Friday night? The response to both in true Doddie Weir style, was it was a “case of mistaken identity”.

Moving to the next match, on Saturday 25th April, Ripon face their final league challenge of the season and entertain Bradford & Bingley at Mallorie Park for a 3.00pm kick off. Ripon came off second best in the corresponding away fixture at the start of the season and with both sides vying for a top five finish to the league campaign, this could be quite an entertaining match. Ripon will be giving due deference to the occasion with a sponsors’ lunch hosted by Chairman Andy Bruce, followed by a curtain raising mini-fest of pre-match games between the Under 13 squads of Ripon, Bradford & Bingley and on tour Percy Park. An ideal opportunity to see age grade Rugby at its finest and see who to spot to be Ripon’s 1st XV players of the future.

And finally, a special mention to “Martin” from South Yorkshire, a “Rugby groupie” who follows the action around the region and sought out yours truly, to acknowledge the entertainment that is occasionally provided via these reports. Nice to meet another member of my adoring public and long may I continue to provide factually accurate and totally impartial accounts of Ripon’s exploits on and off the field. Or maybe just a load of self-indulgent claptrap. #UTR