For the faithful supporters of both clubs, who have been old friends and rivals for many years, this was a cup tie and a half, with a truly nail-biting finish. Ripon made good work of the first half but didn’t quite turn the screw enough to close the game down. A second half resurgence by the visitors took them to within three points of the hosts and possibly with the legs to carry on if more time was available. Critically, Ripon’s set piece dominance didn’t really produce the expected destructive results on the opposition, despite some creative open play from its platform and to be fair to Yarnbury, they were strong in defence and excited with ball in hand from the counter-attack. Despite a strong finish from the visitors, Ripon were able to hang on to their lead, finish worthy winners and progress onto the semi-final stage of the competition.
Key to Ripon’s success, notwithstanding a superb all round team performance was a top drawer outing by this season’s star find Aborosio “Abo” Sovatabua, with some scintillating defensive and attacking plays and a monumental het trick of two first half and one second half tries. Abo has been a key influencer of Ripon’s fluid back play, scoring seven tries in just four games. The “Flying Fijian’s” season is now over due to work commitments, but special thanks must go to this charming young man for integrating so quickly into the club and squad and we wish him well for the close season and a speedy return to playing matters with The Blues.

Before a fair-sized crowd and with kinder weather conditions than of late, Ripon were brilliant at times, creative and resilient throughout but perhaps over-cooked play at times when simplicity may have helped. Yarnbury could have caved under the home scrum pressure, but looked lively from the back foot and created some exciting scores through skilful play from their speedy backs.

This week’s selection saw another six changes from the previous week, with comings and goings and injuries to contend with. The only change to the starting line up in the backs was Binks’ promotion from the bench to start on the Wing. Henry Fletcher was drafted in to beef up the second row and the irrepressible Tom Hesmondhalgh re-entered the side at Number 8. The bench saw the recall of young firebrand Josh Norton as utility forward and Max Marston and Charles Robinson back into the squad as back replacements. Consistency and continuity are key to successful sides and winning games and this pick was a glowing testament to the enduring strength in depth of this squad.

Bearing in mind last week’s dream start, Ripon couldn’t have wished for a more speedy and emphatic opening to the game from Yarnbury’s kick off. Hesmondhalgh claimed the ball and went into contact after a ten-metre burst. The breakdown ball was recycled left for Bray to enter the line and straighten up infield. Borchard was in close support to dodge the next couple of defenders before releasing the ultimate try-scoring machine Abo for the first of his hat-trick contribution to the day. Evading two tackles and stepping inside the Full Back, Abo cleared some 50 metres for Ripon’s first score with just 38 seconds played. Bray converted for 7 – 0.

For most of the next half hour, both sides tried pretty much everything in their repertoires to break the deadlock but to no avail. The usual big carries came from Dalby and Barrett, with solid ground gained from Williams and Bray. The set piece provided good ball but rushed finishing frustrated and denied further scores until at 33 minutes played, Abo set the field on fire again. From a Ripon Scrum, Borchard fed Binks to make 30 metres up his wing. Quick recycling to the left saw Wharton, Bray and Barrett carry strongly before releasing Abo to strike again from deep. Bray made it 14 – 0 and the half time whistle looked like coming soon and leaving Ripon in a good place. The visitors had other plans however and from a quickly taken tap penalty on 37 minutes, they scored their opener and with the quickly taken conversion, were back in the game at 14 – 7. Yarnbury’s uplifted mood was raised further, when a 41st minute penalty for dissent against Ripon gifted them a further three points from a penalty goal and the half time score of 14 – 10 looked like Ripon needed to step up a gear.

Shortly after the second half restarted, with Ripon playing down the famous slope and with the wind, the home fortunes improved, with a Bray penalty goal for 17 – 10. From the next restart, another magical moment occurred as Barrett fielded the deep kick off. The small but effective Centre wriggled and smashed his way through the kick chasers to find open air at the half way line. Stepping infield to make space, Barrett fed the omnipresent Freddy Wharton, with a seemingly impossible 50 metre run in. Stepping in once and out again, Wharton left the defence for dead and plunged over to celebrate Ripon’s third. Bray made no mistake of the conversion for 24 – 10 and “Mr Blue Skies” started shining brightly.

The home celebrations were cut cruelly short after a penalty from the next restart which put Yarnbury within distance of the line. The simple quick line out ball was perfectly executed and the away Scrum Half outsmarted his home counterpart to jink inside and feed his Number 8 for Yarbury’s second. The conversion attempt missed to leave the score 24 – 15. Bray found the Ripon riposte within a further few minutes and with another finely struck penalty goal, extended the lead to 27 – 15.

The rest of the third quarter played out with honours even and Ripon perhaps tiring and not drawing sufficiently on the bench resources early enough. Entering the fourth quarter, entered that man Abo again. This time from a Ripon take of a Yarnbury scrum against the head, Borchard reacted well to shift Williams into space. Bray joined the line to break the defence again and gift the Flying Fijian with his third try. Bray was just short of the conversion attempt, but 32 – 15 was looking very comfortable.

After three further minutes however, from a stolen breakdown, the Yarnbury 10 cross-kicked long for their wiry young Scrum Half to latch onto and weave his way into stardom with the visitors’ third try and conversion for 32 – 22 and some squeaky moments in the Ripon squad. Spurred on by the smell of victory, Yarnbury piled on the pressure and despite the host’s attempted adherence to their patient, structured game, started to find cracks in the defence.

With Ripon’s best friend being the clock at this point, one would have thought that safety first would have been the order. The Blues however, still tried to play more and when repeated indiscretions gave the visitors several penalty advantages, Yarnbury found themselves ever closer to the Ripon line. With two minutes of regular time left, Yarnbury collected themselves sufficiently to exploit a quick penalty opportunity and from the tap, ran in unopposed. The rushed drop-kick conversion took the score to 32 – 29 and Yarnbury in a desperate hurry to crack on. Alas, it was not to be and with the referee calling time bang on the 40 minutes, cheers of relief ran around the Ripon squad and crowd and sighs of disbelief echoed amongst the visitors. What might another five minutes have brought, who knows? What is known, is that Yarnbury put up a heck of a fight, worthy of their league finish in third place and Ripon toughed it out for another character-building defence at “Fortress Mallorie Park”.

The draw for the semi-final has been kind to Ripon again and on next Saturday May 4th they host Southport from the other side of the Pennines, in what promises to be another gripping saga in Ripon’s cup journey. Like last week, let’s get the population of Ripon and surrounding areas behind The Blues and fill Mallorie Park in support of the home side. The kick off is at 3.00pm and all supporters and spectators will be very welcome.