Ripon 2 vs North Ribblesdale 2 - Saturday 3rd September

In bright and still conditions and sharing a generous proportion of Ripon’s faithful spectators with the home 1st XV game, Ripon 2nds welcomed North Yorkshire rivals North Ribblesdale to Mallorie Park for the opening Merit Table fixture of the season and provide Rugby Football for just short of 40 local men and youths. The 2nd XV game faired better for Ripon than the senior squad as far as the points difference was concerned and offered The Blues’ a clean sheet to open their season.

The Ripon side, which in the middle of the week prior, looked seriously lacking in numbers, yielded some 20 players from a mixture of emerging Colts, new signings and some returnees from last season and beyond. A strong balance of maturity, experience and youthful exuberance welcomed the visitors. Making their debuts to Ripon’s senior playing strength were Louis Eleftheriou, Max Webster and “Back of the Match” Fred Cooper and a delayed graduation for Jack Musgrave after a long layoff. Returning to the Ripon colours were Dom Dalby and Tom Graham after exploring other options and two of last season’s pack mainstays – “Mack” Koroiyadi and Iain Barker beefed up the scrum. Newly appointed 2nd XV captain Billy Burgin put in a solid gold performance to steer his side to victory and win the accolade as the most valuable forward.

The first 20 minutes saw action swinging both ways as the teams gradually got to understand the way the referee wanted to play the advantage law. Penalties were forthcoming for transgressions on both sides, but for no material gains. The early exchanges saw Ripon exerting some solid scrum pressure, but not quite delivering on territorial gains as kicks and handling moves went astray.

Away from the scrums, Dalby and Mack impressed with their support play with some strong running and breakdown competition. In all phases of play, the Ripon pack played cohesively and set up an increasingly stronger platform for what ended in a sound three Try winning performance.

The Tries came from Webster, Eleftheriou and Graham, with Graham adding the conversion to his own Try. Notable contributions to the scores also came from the evergreen Bell and Barker. A solid first outing for a scratch side, that has massive scope for performing well in this season’s Merit table, as well as providing some healthy competition for the 1st XV squad for their places. Also good to see players of all shapes, sizes and ages coming together to compete for the club. Hopefully with a first win under their belts, the 2nd XV squad will go from strength to strength and grow the playing membership to somewhere near its former glory.

Ripon 2nd XV 17 – 0 North Ribblesdale 2nd XV

Next Saturday 10th September, Ripon 2nds continue their Merit Table action with the 1st XV for a short hop up the A167 to Northallerton’s Brompton Lodge Ground for what promises to be an exciting encounter with old friends and local rivals. Again, all travelling support will be very welcome for the 3.00pm kick off.

For any players reading this who have not been party to pre-season training or available for the games so far, it’s never too late to get back into playing ways, so do get in touch and participate. We need as many players as possible to sustain our playing strength and league aspirations. Every little helps! Let’s make it a season to be proud of and take the Club further forward.