In post-diluvian conditions, two very strong teams went to battle and for 80 minutes, defied the soft ground and wet ball, to offer a first class display of competitive Rugby. In the chill, dull and damp conditions, Ripon demonstrated superb cohesion in all phases of play and whilst defensively, were vulnerable at times in conceding three tries to two, worked hard to stifle their well drilled and fitter opponents. With two teams playing at home and the distraction of Autumn Internationals on the TV in the bar, the crowd attracted to this match was commendable and the vociferous local support was key to driving The Blues on to victory.

The Ripon team line up read like a cross between “Who’s Who” and a wedding list, with a subtle blend of something old, something new and definitely something blue. The back line had some familiar faces with Harry Drane and Morgan Clark at Half Back and young speedsters Henry Hanson and Zak Kirby on the Wings. In the Centres was a welcome return to the Wolfman himself James Woolfenden and Elliot Fearn, who went on to guest effectively at Loose head for much of the second half.

The pack saw a powerful front row line up with Keith Anderson, Callum Burton and George Evans, backed by Iain Barker and Skipper Mark Hooley in the boiler house. Billy Fletcher and Will Mountford aimed to play fast and loose on the Flanks and Ben Rickard beefed up at Number 8. The bench was ably occupied by Morgan Laws, Andy Rippon and Miles Naylor, with a special guest appearance from fly by night Kyle Smith.

Drane started the proceedings with a lofted kick off, which the visitors cleared to their 22. The Ripon line out was judged not straight and still within the first minute of play, North were offered their first scrum put in. Ripon nudged the visitors off their own put in and set off wide to the right. The away backs were caught off side and Cooper opened the scoring 3 – 0 with a penalty goal.

Ripon continued with some strong attacking phases and after a couple of penalties each way sought to break out from some North pressure. Woolfenden barged, jinked and weaved his was through seemingly half the opposition to find space in their half and kicking on for the chase. Unfortunately Woolfenden was prevented from reaching the touchdown by an illegal shoulder charge and the penalty try enhanced Ripon’s lead to 10 – 0.

North soon settled into their groove from the next restart and met fire with fire in respect of every phase and from a tapped free kick for accidentally off side, the visitors caught the defence napping and ran in for the first of their three tries, with the conversion making it 10 – 7. It was going to be a closer game than thought.

From the restart Ripon kick deep into North Ribblesdale territory again and benefitted from a further penalty but didn’t yield a score.

With 23 minutes played North started to get some cohesion in their set piece and took a Ripon scrum to pieces. Using the ball gained against the head wisely, the visitors pieced together some penetrating phases and broke the home line again with a converted try to take the lead at 10 – 14. There were. some further plays strong plays through both sides, with alternate territorial advances. A couple of penalties each way offered more attacking options, with Hooley and Hanson carrying hard, but were quickly stifled and then Ripon got the advantage of a penalty goal attempt on 39 minutes which Cooper calmly converted for a 13 - 14 half time score.

The second half saw some personnel changes for Ripon, with the bench coming on to bring fresh legs and energy. It wasn’t long before the hosts got back into their groove and from a penalty touch kick just inside the North 22, a line out catch and drive trundled forward some 10 metres before releasing the ball for the speedy home backs to work with. Play went to the right and Will Barrett broke through the first line of defence and man of the match Will Mountford was on hand to weave through to touch down. Cooper made no mistake of the conversion to put The Blues back in the lead at 20 - 14 .

Much of the next twenty minutes was spent with both sides battering each other through forward charges and quick ball being released to the backs and both sides tackled tremendously well. Both sides also managed to snuff the other attacks out until at 32 minutes into the second-half North got a quick ball from a Ripon scrum. Laws tackled the first receiver and Billy Fletcher supported, but there was a knock on at the breakdown. North picked up the loose ball, broke and made it through the scattered Ripon defence and scored an unconverted try at 32 minutes to take the score to 20 - 19.

For the closing minutes, both sides went at it hammer and tong with no quarter asked or offered and neither side making any real progress. Ripon got some advantage in terms of territory, but both sides conceded further penalties, neither of which resulted in in any scores and eventually the whistle was blown at bang on 80 minutes with Ripon breathing a sigh of relief at the win by the closest of margins at 20 – 19. A thrilling close to what was a fantastic game to watch. A brilliant effort from everyone on both sides and played in a hard but fair spirit. There were people in both sides who stepped up immensely to the challenge and made this a memorable game to watch and be part of.

This result took Ripon into third place in the Central North Merit Table, and provided a lot to be proud of. So, with this. the future of Ripon's senior adult squad looks good and with more effort into training and supporting the development of the first team and the continuing success of the 2nd XV, the future looks very bright for the club.