Wetherby 2nds Vs Ripon Hornblowers

On a very sunny autumn day the Hornblowers took a short drive down the A1 to Wetherby to try and build on a very positive start to the season. With 24 players making themselves available it was always going to be a tough selection for the coaches on who started and who came on to finish the game. As our DoR stated, “what a great position to be in with players vying for not only 2nd team places but also pushing the 1st team for selection next week”.

The buildup to the game took a slight detour as Richie Groves picked up a puncture on the A1 which meant we had to ferry all the kit and a few players to the game. The warmup proceeded slightly late, but player quickly got into the mindset for the game until we realised we had left the playing shirts in one of the coaches' cars. A quick panic moment but solved very calmly by Gary Simpkin.

The opening 10 minutes of the 1st half saw both teams looking for opportunities in attack and testing each other’s defense to try and find a weakness. This led to a few turnovers and some strongly contested scrums. The deadlock as broken in the 13th minute when the Wetherby No 15 picked up a loose ball and with what can be only called ‘dancing feet’ and went through about 5 Ripon players to score under the posts. Ripon responded positively and pushed Wetherby in all areas of the game until Sam Stoddart threw the ball in on a lineout on the oppositions 22 and then took the ball off a pass from the top and coming round to find the gap between 9 and 10 to sprint over for a well worked try. Wetherby’s 2nd try came on the 39th minute as they worked the ball through multiply phases to eventual find a gap in the Ripon defense. Ripon had their chances and Sam Stoddart was tackled just short of the line after making a 40-yard break. Mark Rees making his retirement return (again) showed his footballing skills by dribbling the ball 30 yards to be overtaken by a young winger with only yards to spare.
The 1st half score ended 10:5 to Wetherby.

With so many players available meant that Ripon made 9 changes at half time to ensure everyone got an equal amount of game time. The downside of this is that the next 10 minutes was a little unorganized and Wetherby exploited this to the full. With 2 quick tries from their No 15 (who was clearly their Man of the Match) this left the score at 24:5. Ripon then started to play some organized rugby and Wetherby where on the back foot for the rest of the game. This culminated in a multi-phase run by Ripon to see Tommy Graham dive over the line.

The final score was 24:10 to Wetherby, however as I walk away there is a feeling that on another day the result would have gone equally the other way. Thank you to Wetherby for a great day out and some competitive rugby that shows why they are in the top few in the league.

In the social arena after the game Wetherby awarded the Man of the Match to a very well-deserved George Evans who scrummed hard all day and whenever he carried the ball was a massive threat. The coaches also picked out the Hornblowers captain Billy Burgin for leading from the front and setting the standard he wants for the rest of the season. It was also great to see Evan Rees returning from university for his first game back and playing alongside his dad, Mark Rees. In addition, we also had another father and son combination as Jacob Drane was on the field whilst his dad, Owen Drane, coached from the side-lines, showing that Ripon is truly a family club.