It was Wellington, I believe and the history or military purists will correct me if I’m wrong, who described the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo, as a “close run thing”. Having started successfully with a number of initiatives working well, Wellington’s finest soon found themselves under the cosh and with depleted resources, were it not for the timely intervention of Blucher, the battle may surely have been lost.

Wind forward 209 years and similar events unfolded, as Ripon started well, gave some ground and then were rescued by reinforcements. Simplistically and probably historically hopelessly inaccurate but this weekend’s game against what has transpired to be Ripon’s bogey opposition Baildon, could have gone one way or another at one point – most likely the final quarter. The confidence of Ripon’s start was eventually eroded, both by poor discipline and the opposition’s seizing the moment and were it not for the resurgent bulldog spirit that underpins Ripon’s character and the Fortress Mallorie Park ethos, this was a game that could quite easily have been lost.

The outcome of this game does however, go to show that whilst an emphatic victory by ten points can be celebrated, it isn’t necessarily achieved from an easy game. The winning margin between the two sides this week was just reward for Ripon’s commitment to adjusting to the disruption of the thirteen line-up changes, including seven positional changes, five recalls to the squad and a debut for newly signed and significantly experienced Hooker Jacob Newnam. It also showed how fragile the grip on a game can become when discipline drops from exemplary to challenging and so a timely reminder of how quickly match fortunes can change and be punished.

Back in league action after last week’s friendly outing, Ripon eventually put themselves firmly in contention to retain at least a top three finish with this determined performance against a lively Baildon. The opposition’s mid-table position, not truly accounting for the passion and intensity with which they played at times and the resilience they showed in nearly closing the gap between the score to achieve a losing bonus point or even a win.

Call it luck or judgement, Ripon’s superiority at the set piece paid dividends and gave them the platform from which to launch a five try and five league point victory. The Blues made hard work of it at times however and in the mid stages of the second half, looked all at sea, with a flurry of penalty concessions and enough vigour in the Baildon side to put the hosts on the ropes a few times.

Testament to the Ripon strength of character, with all the changes from the last league fixture squad, there was bound to be some disruption to the flow of the game, but The Blues absorbed all of the pressure on them, asserted themselves when they needed to and even did their best to limit the damage when down to 13 men for a couple of yellow card offences.

Notable this week were debutant Jacob Newnam, a new signing from up North, who made a huge impact at Hooker and man of the match Harry Veitch, for his show stopping performance at Open Side. Both were highly influential with hard carries and even harder breakdown management.

In full, selection this week was just as challenging if not worse that of recent, with constant changes in availability, injury and the occasional luxury of new signings.

At the rear, the experiment of starting Harry Drane at Full Back worked well, with a solid performance in defence and attacking play. Showing maturity beyond his tender years, Drane was solid under the high ball and looked to open up play with some clever counter-attacking. The Left Wing was occupied by the fast-becoming legendary Tom Graham, who showed pace over long distances, power in contact and nabbed a brace of tries to keep his personal tally looking respectable. “Abo” Sovatabua occupied the Right Wing for the first half before being seamlessly replaced by his compatriot Take; both of whom played significant roles in defence but weren’t provided with the clean possession and space with which to show their true pace and class. The Centres saw yest another new pairing with Ollie Bennett looking to claim the 12 jersey as his own and the return of the human cannonball Matt Powell at 13. The latter opening the scoring early on with an unstoppable close range and low-level strike.

Player-coach Nick Daley gamely took on the 10 jersey and got the ball moving in many ways as well as providing a strong defensive offer. Daley, more successful at hitting the woodwork that missing it, did amass nine points from the outing with a try and two conversions. The half back line up was completed with young Charlie Borchard playing a key role in distributing quick ball from the breakdowns and keeping Ripon’s swift momentum going when they were in the ascendancy.

Up front, Koroiyadi and Dalby propped the scrum as well as expected and provided a dominant set piece from which The Blues launched so many attacks. They also contributed significantly with and without the ball, the latter’s effective tackle technique being sadly misconstrued, leading to his yellow card after just 60 minutes. New signing Newnam fitted in nicely with his front row regulars, scrummaging hard, contributing hugely in the loose and also being sadly so misunderstood at the tackle that he joined Dalby for a yellow card breather.

The second row was considerably vertically challenged, with neither Lock nearing, let alone exceeding six feet in height, but Tom Austin and Billy Fletcher made a clear statement that size doesn’t matter. The pair scrummaged strongly and were a force to be reckoned with in open play, Austin perhaps putting in the most hard yards among the forwards and scoring the opening try of the second half.

This week’s back row allowed Skipper James Pearce the opportunity to escape the hurly burly of the front row at Blind Side and the freedom to flit around the field at will, certainly boosted his game. Man of the match Harry Veitch proved a power to be reckoned with and a rare outing at Number 8 for Tom Roebuck gave him the opportunity to control the interface between set piece and open play. A tour de force in the line out, Roebuck provided a plethora of quick, clean ball.

On the bench, “super-sub”, the antediluvian Adam Newcombe was ready to step in anywhere, young Toby Boyce was itching to get into the fray anywhere as well and Saula Take, was keen to add his pace anywhere in the back line.

After a confused start, Ripon dominate the first few minutes of play, with pace and intensity not often witnessed at this level. Could they keep it up and could the opposition match them? No was the answer to both and as The Blues settled into a more measured groove, the benefits of the early pressure started to tell, with the visitors conceding some five penalties within the first quarter, the second of which Ripon scored from.

The penalty touch kick from Daley offered a line out 20 metres off the Baildon line. The clean ball from Roebuck turned into a mini-drive before Borchard broke infield and fed the jet-propelled Matt Powell to crash through for the opening try. A joyful moment for Powell on his return to playing after a break for family duties. Drane just hooked the conversion attempt to the left for 5 - 0.

Next on the scoreboard was Nick Daley on 16 minutes after a clearance kick out by the visitors found Harry Drane in space. Tom Graham looped round in support and bludgeoned his way through midfield to set up a ruck just inside the Baildon half. Borchard fed Daley on the burst and the Player Coach pirouetted his way through the first line of defence until he saw open ground and went for the line. Taking over place kicking duties, Daley proceeded to hit the woodwork for the first of three times, two conversion and one penalty goal attempt all bouncing back into play later, for a 10 – 0 lead.

A late resurgence by Baildon saw a relatively simple move from a scrum that wasn’t going backwards for a change and quick hands infield resulted in a converted try under the posts. Not giving in, Ripon had the last laugh of the half with a well worked try from another penalty line out after an off-side decision. The catch from Roebuck was latched onto by Pearce and then the inside release saw Bennett make some yards towards the line. From the next breakdown, chunky Tom Graham joined the back of the maul and rolled free to plunge over. Without the deflected conversion attempt, the score gave Ripon a fairly comfortable 15 – 7 lead at half time.

Playing uphill and into the sun was somewhat unsettling for the hosts’ usual game plan and Ripon’s grip on the game became more tenuous as the opposition started to string together some constructive phases. The lead was however, reinforced when workhorse Tom Austin powered over from a post scrum breakdown maul deep in enemy territory and with Daley finally finding his feet with the conversion, edged The Blues away to 22 – 7.

After the first 10 minutes of the second half, Ripon started to show some chinks in their armour and looked at one point in danger of folding. A succession of needless penalties gave Baildon more ammunition to their growing attacking strength and on 20 minutes they spun the ball out wide for their dangerously fast Wing in space, to round the defence for their second try, which was unconverted for 22 – 12. More woe followed for Ripon with the despatch of Dalby, yellow carded for an over-enthusiastic tackle and Baildon rubbed their hands with glee at the chance of the power play and a softer scrum. With the despatch of Newnam within a few minutes of Dalby for a similar offence, not only was two thirds of the Ripon front row hors de combat but the two of the top tacklers and carriers were conspicuously absent. The weight of numbers eventually told and after a messy line out, Baildon broke free and exploited the overlap for a converted try to take the score to a buttock clenching 22 – 19 at 32 minutes played.

Fortune favours the stout hearted and Ripon dug deep to repel all boarders once back up to 14 men with Dalby back on the pitch. The return of Newnam in injury time was the icing on the cake and back to even sides, Ripon’s dominance of the set piece ruled the final few moments of the game. On 42 minutes, Austin stole a visitor’s line out to break free before feeding Powell. The small but brutally effective Centre made great ground before unleashing Tom Graham to cover the last 30 metres and touch down for Ripon’s fifth and final try. Daley thankfully added the conversion to make the points difference 29 – 19 at the final whistle and more apt endorsement of the effort The Blues put into the day’s events. Commiserations to Baildon, who came so close to exploiting the advantages when they had them, but simply couldn’t close the game down when it mattered.

Good resilience displayed by Ripon and some strong performances in support play from Fijian friends Koroiyadi, Sovatabua and Take, all of whom excite every time they’re near the ball and often when they’re not. Also worthy of mention, Ollie Bennett’s shift at Inside Centre, often an underrated position and Billy Fletcher, who stretched his utility forward role admirably in the second row for most of the game.
It goes without saying that 13 penalties conceded and two yellow cards overlapping each other, are not elements of the game that Ripon aspire to. More work needs to be done on discipline and game management. Apart from the obvious disadvantages of being down to 13 men and conceding points unnecessarily, this was one of Ripon’s finer performances of the season and well-deserving of the five league points and stabilising in third place in Counties Two Yorkshire.

Next week, The Blues will leave the comfort of Mallorie Park for a long journey over to Huddersfield Laund Hill on 9th November. Kick-off will be at the normal winter time of 2.15pm and all travelling supporters will be very welcome.