After more torrential rain, the hallowed turf of Mallorie Park, withstood the challenge, looked in pristine, if not a little soggy condition; but with a playable surface and no danger of the match being postponed. On the day itself, the weather was quiet and still, with a fair amount of sunshine to begin with. After a moment of silence in respect of those who gave their lives in conflicts around the world, the game was cheered on by the local host entertained by match sponsor and Club President Keith Anderson and an unexpectedly low turn-out from visiting supporters. The game was however played out in front of a fair sized and undeniably partisan crowd.

After Northallerton’s meteoric rise to Yorkshire Division Two, with a pit stop at Twickenham along the way, this week’s squad seemed a shadow of its former self. Despite a modest smattering of ex-Ripon players making up their ranks, there seemed a general lack of passion in the visitors to make this a local derby worth fighting for.

Ripon on the contrary, were well up for the challenge, which showed through in a cohesive performance, that had to settle for a try count of just three, when many more opportunities went begging, to Northallerton’s consolation Penalty Try. Despite an initially shaky scrum, Ripon looked sharper, more creative and generally in control of the game. The visitors’ Penalty Try in the middle of the second quarter was their only serious opportunity to score. Some hard graft later on in the game saw North’ banging in Ripon’s door several times and despite being gifted some 18 penalties in the whole game, were unable to capitalise on their possession, or break through the home defence.

Ripon on the contrary, were restricted from the free run of the game by a few minor unforced errors and some interesting refereeing decisions. Thus the bonus point win, which was clearly on the cards, was a mere aspiration and one hopes that with similar performances against similarly disposed oppositions and different refereeing approaches, might yield more success.

Despite a relatively small talent pool and with player availability across the whole adult playing strength just reaching critical mass on a week by week basis, this week’s squad selection saw some challenges and interesting and exciting changes. With nine changes overall from last week’s squad, some positional, some forced by injury and some for strategic impact; the 18 players that took to the field were at one with each other and meticulously prepared for the afternoon ahead. Losses from the squad included Clark through injury and Pillar and Baldwin strengthening the 2nd XV, with Dave Robinson returning to the coaching team. Incoming returnees were Rob Nicholson at Hooker, “for one night only” student Ted Wainwright to provide some powerful go forward at Number 8, Tom Newby after one week’s rest and the welcome return of Matty Taylor on the bench after six months out through an injury sustained in Ripon’s last game against Northallerton in April.

Positionally, Tombling stepped back up to 10 to replace Clark, Buckley moved across to Full Back and Tom Graham drifted out to the Wing to accommodate the return of Newby in the Centres.

With the rest of the squad relatively stable, Slator and Koroiyadi propped in partnership for their fourth game and Fletcher Jnr partnered Skipper Barker in the second row for the third successive game. In the spirit of inclusiveness, the rest of the squad comprised Payne and Findlay completing the back row, Mainey at Scrum Half, Ben Taylor at 13 and Tom Leeming on the Wing, with Newcombe and Perez adding some magic to the bench.

Before moving on to the game itself, it’s important to note the value of reliable and consistent goal kicking. Tim Tombling, a recent returnee to the club this season, smashed out a four from four attempts, with three conversions and a penalty goal. Northallerton however, despite being awarded 18 penalties, many of which were in kicking range, didn’t manage any goals. Even the penalty try now has an automatic conversion added, so congratulations to Tombling for his individual effort. And finally, regarding effort, a new coaches’ award of best tacklers was introduced this week. Singled out for bravado were: Jordan Payne for his (own) nose breaking tackle on the opposition Number 8; Nick Perez for his “All American” approach to splattering people at will and Adam Newcombe, for his ultimate “Smack Down” (Showing my age here) of an unnamed opponent. Jamie Slator was unlucky not to be included in the rankings for his tackle on the referee in the 66th minute, which resulted in a 10 minute stoppage of the game and the final whistle being blown just before dusk.

Despite having some decidedly chunky players, Northallerton failed to capitalise, perhaps through lack of fitness with their bulk. Yes, their scrum worked well in the first half, but it was by no means a dominant force on the game and Ripon’s creativity, often launched from set pieces through Wainwright and Findlay, made the difference on the day.

The game itself, started rather bleakly. Head Coach Hassall’s pre-match rhetoric about physicality and belief, but more importantly about the winning mind set was inspirational as usual, but a failure of players to communicate on the pitch as to who was going to field the kick off, just led to an unnecessary error from the off. Given the upper hand, North’ pressed and forced a touch kick by Leeming. After a line out infringement, Ripon were awarded their first scrum of the day, which was challenged smartly by the visitors and resulted in a penalty against the Blues. Gifted with a shot at goal, Northallerton commenced with a long line of misses and relieved the pressure on the hosts.

Fielding the missed kick, Tombling sent the ball back upfield with interest and forced a line out upfield, which Ripon won. Quick recycling and slick handling, saw Graham, Ben Taylor and Buckley link well, for the latter to make a 30 metre break. The final tackle on Buckley was adjudged illegal and Tombling stepped up to open the score with a penalty goal to make it 3 – 0 at nine minutes.

Ripon harried well from the restart and camped in the visitors’ 22 for a few minutes. After a number of probing forward drives, involving pretty much the whole pack at some point, the diminutive Mainey jinked, ducked and dived his way through seemingly endless tackle attempts and going underground at one point, to score Ripon’s first try. Tombling gently stroked over the conversion to take the score to 10 – 0.
As play developed, it appeared that North’ had a quite one dimensional approach in using their forwards to try to gain ground and their Number 10 to either kick or run himself into attacking situations. Thus it became obvious that the visitors, whilst having pace in their backs, lacked incision and certainly lacked defensive capability and this was to be exploited.

At the start of the second quarter, an attack from a scrum was launched by Wainwright, who fed to Ben Taylor coming up on the blind side. Findlay carried it on in inimitable style up the right wing, before uncharacteristically passing. The perfectly timed delivery to Tom Graham, saw him change course back across to the left, where he linked with Koroiyadi, who plunged on for a further 20 metres. Unable to release the ball, the breakdown resulted in a scrum to the visitors. Gradually getting into their stride, the Ripon pack disrupted the scrum sufficiently for Findlay to turn over possession and launch another attack. Tombling carried on well, to feed Buckley, who then drifted a long pass out to Leeming on the Wing. With some 30 metres to go and two defenders to beat, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing actually. The first defender fell by the wayside and Leeming cantered the last 20 metres holding his opposite number at arms-length like a human shield, to dab down in the corner. Despite the angle and distance, Tombling banged the conversion over to take the score to 17 – 0 with 24 minutes played.

The remainder of the second quarter saw more penalty exchanges and relatively open play from both sides. North’ using their big carriers to try and make ground and only really gaining advantage through their Number 8. Ripon pressed well through the back row and their lively actions around the breakdown area. Key to Ripon’s success was their obvious fitness advantage over the opposition, pretty much across the field and the commitment to defensive line speed and aggressive tackling.

Through tactical kicking, North entered the Ripon 22 and on 32 minutes due to a defensive error, were awarded a scrum. The Blues were penalised for wheeling and so the visitors sensing a weakness, opted for a further scrum. Next time, the scrum went down and so a further penalty was awarded. Third time lucky for the visitors, saw a third penalty for Ripon allegedly collapsing the scrum and the award of a penalty try to take the score to 17 – 7.

Ripon bounced back from the restart to continue harrying the visitors and whilst there were no further scoring opportunities either way, the hosts went into the break feeling relatively comfortable with the points difference.
Ripon opened the second half with a classic kick from Tombling, which saw possession recycled through Findlay and Nicholson, the counter attack fizzling out through a penalty for holding on in the tackle.

The penalty count might indicate a close fought game, but in reality, few sides usually get penalised when going forward and showing dominance in open play. This however, was the pattern of the second half mostly. Northallerton did make efforts to attack, though the strength of their scrum diminished significantly and their line out was fiercely contested by Fletcher and Findlay. With the resurgence of Matty Taylor in the second half, both open play and the line out transcended to another level.

At 55 minutes, after a penalty touch kick, followed by a line out and driving maul, Rob Nicholson plunged over to increase Ripon’s try count, The cool boot of Tombling converted to take the score to a seemingly unassailable 24 – 7.

Northallerton countered well during the next ten minutes or so and drew very close to Ripon’s line. The organisation and speed of the home defence however, kept any threats at bay and so the visitors never really looked like scoring thereafter.

Notable for Ripon in this important win, which takes them to 5th place in the league, was the commitment to defending at pace and with confidence and doing the same in attack. Northallerton will be bitterly disappointed with the outcome of this result, but the key point for Ripon remains that the use of youth and experience, as well as commitment to training and fitness especially, are what make a difference now.
Next week’s Yorkshire Division Two action sees The Blues travel to Barnsley for a 2.15pm kick off. Rumours abound of a bus trip and a dress code of something beginning with “R”. All support will be most welcome to help Ripon continue their winning ways.