A fitting occasion in which senior representatives of the Club’s oldest and key sponsors Theakston’s Brewery, graced Mallorie Park with their presence for their annual match day sponsorship and witnessed the return of aspiring “Master Cooper” Euan Findlay to Ripon colours. Absent from the Rugby field from some two seasons, Findlay took back to the game like a duck to water and exhibited a typical display of aggression, physicality and omnipresence. With two tries to boot, the power-packed back rower dominated the game and more than ably filled the void at Number 8, left when Butterill went off on his travels.

Of course, it’s not all about one player, but in a week in which The Blues were entirely bereft of the now standard contingent of four Fijian players, two dropping out at very short notice, the presence of Findlay in a side whose morale could have dipped considerably, had a talismanic effect. Given the memory of the tough outing and poor result of the away fixture at Queen’s Terrace back in October, this was a game that Ripon were desperate to do well in. Not only to avenge the narrow defeat in a game that The Blues thought was in the bag and not to lose to the same team twice in a season, but also to keep up the relentless pressure to push for the elusive second place in the league.
Despite a very early stutter in which a Ripon error let the visitors in to open the scoring within the first minute of play, The Blues went on to dominate the game for long periods, secure the try bonus point by half time and ensure a pointless second half for Ossett. The five league points maintained Ripon in contention in third place of Counties 2 Yorkshire and still a tantalising six adrift of the dream promotion spot.
With an average number of 10 squad changes per game, this week was no exception with twelve in total, again testament to the Club’s strength in depth to produce a high quality team of 18 players, particularly with a full 2nd XV squad being fielded at the same time.

The selectors rose to the challenge admirably this week and planned for a hard hitting and talented line up. Last minute call offs by Komaitai, Take and Burgin, necessitated some quick reshuffling but the final line up was just as good as any of its predecessors. In the pack, Nick “Cool Hand Luke” Perez, added to his growing list of starting positions at Loose Head and Skipper Pearce kept his position at Hooker and carried on his tradition of collecting yellow cards against Ossett, this time for a high tackle. Some feat for one of the shortest players on the field! Dom Dalby made a powerful return to the side after a couple of weeks out and did his usual damage in and around the set piece, though some differences of opinion between him and the referee about scrummaging got him in deep water and some time out to cool down early in the second half. The second row saw Barker and Roebuck together again after a while, the former adding his leadership and calming influence in fraught situations and the latter reigning supreme in the line out amongst other aspects of the game. The back row saw Veitch at Blind Side with another gritty, try scoring performance and Oscar Way finding his feet well in his second successive run out at Open Side. Euan “Stinky” Findlay brought up the rear and looked like he’d never been away at Number 8.

The now established partnership of Harry Drane at Scrum Half and man of the match Nick Daley at Number 10 worked well again, Drane the incisive link to keep up the pace and momentum and Daley creating spaces and defending aggressively. The Centres saw yet another experimental pairing of Jacob Drane putting in a creditable performance at Inside, with recalled student Barrett, doing his usual job at Outside. Matt Binks was called up to cover on the Wing and grabbed a try for his trouble and his partner in crime Tom Graham, back on the opposite Wing, put in another crunching performance, with another two tries to add to his impressive tally. James Cooper was recalled to Full Back and showed composure in all phases of play, particularly with his handling skills and knocked over a couple of conversions to boot.
This week’s bench saw Anderson and Joe Middlemiss return to favour and a recall to Oscar Lees to bring his low level strike capacity to bear.
In cold and at first, still weather conditions and with a sizeable and well refreshed crowd, courtesy of Theakston’s, Ripon elected to play uphill first and received the kick off. Roebuck took the ball well under pressure and from a couple of passes to get the right angle to exit, Daley aimed to clear. The enthusiastic Ripon back line was however off side and Ossett were gifted three points from a penalty goal within the first minute.

The next few penalty decisions went The Blues way and soon they were in their groove with some extended phases of play and good ground gained. On the eight minute, the powerful Ripon pack nudged the visitors off their scrum put in and Drane and Daley shipped the ball quickly to the right. Cooper came into the line and lofted a long pass out to Tom Graham for him to run in for the first of his brace. Cooper’s conversion attempt didn’t quite have the legs but the lead of 5 – 3 was welcome to Ripon. Not one to waste any time and before he’d gather his breath, Graham was off again. From the restart kick, Findlay gathered and evaded all would be defenders to clear through some 50 metres. As the attack broke down, Barrett was on hand to continue and recycle the ball right again and Cooper was on hand again to enter the line and gift Graham the chance to run in for his second try. Cooper’s conversion attempt was closer to target on this occasion but bounced harmlessly off the upright for 10 – 3 with ten minutes played.

After a further ten minutes, in which Ripon looked to progress their style of play with focus on hitting the gaps, the opposition started to show a decline in their discipline and giving the hosts plenty of advantage and possession. On 21 minutes, the pressure told when Binks ran in for The Blues’ third try. Daley tapped a penalty to go quickly and fed Barrett, who shrugged off the first line of defence to make a good 30 metre break. Binks appeared on his shoulder at the breakdown to cover the second half of the pitch at pace to touch down. Cooper found his rhythm with the conversion for a tidy 17 – 3 while Daley recovered from a late hit after he initiated the move.

The game saw mixed fortunes over the next few minutes as Ripon looked to play their expansive game and Ossett looking to exploit the power of their big forwards. This proved its worth momentarily on 32 minutes when the visitors took a quick penalty from a breakdown offence and their burly second row broke through to touch down. The conversion missed for 17 – 8 and an alert to Ripon that this game wasn’t over by a long shot. As the end of the half approached, so did more frustration creep into the Ossett camp and with their penalty count into double figures, the inevitable yellow card followed for a repeat offence and gave The Blues a timely numerical advantage. After a succession of penalties from scrum infringements close to the visitors’ line, Ripon went for bust and from the stable base, Findlay accelerated through the meagre opposition for a 20 metre touch down and Ripon’s try bonus point. Cooper’s conversion made it 24 – 8 and the final whistle of the half blew for a well-earned rest for everyone.

Carrying on from where he left off, Findlay was instrumental in recapturing the ball from the second half kick off and giving Roebuck, Barrett and Jacob Drane the opportunity to take the attack forward. On five minutes into the half another yellow card to Ossett gifted Ripon with a two man advantage and the chance to run riot. That didn’t quite work out however, and with the addition of the “Bomb Squad” of all three replacements coming on for Barker, Veitch and Cooper, the inevitable disruption slowed things down for The Blues somewhat. Ripon’s efforts to get some continuity going were further hampered by Dalby being yellow carded for a high tackle. Had he not been so vociferous about the control of the scrums, he might well have slipped under the radar.

Fortunately well-blessed for front row players, Ripon were undeterred at the next scrum and forced themselves back into attacking mode. A penalty to Ripon after 18 minutes gave Tom Graham the chance to take a quick tap and jink through some 40 metres before handing onto Barrett, who played one of his best supporting roles to date. Findlay was on hand for the last pass and complete his brace. Newly assigned to kicking duties, Harry Drane scuffed the conversion attempt for 29 – 8 and Ripon looking to get some clear daylight between them and the opposition.

The rest of the half saw one of those “never say die” performances from Ossett, who defended bravely and started asking serious questions in attack. The solid Ripon defence and organisation kept the opposition at bay, though some repeated attacks got perilously close to scoring. Ossett’s third yellow card after 25 minutes didn’t help their cause and gifted Ripon with sufficient advantage to attack their line again. This time from a simple penalty touch kick, the line out win by Roebuck saw a text book drive for the line and Harry Veitch claiming Ripon’s sixth try of the day. Cooper was back on the pitch to attempt the conversion but it just wasn’t to be his lucky day and there the score remained at 34 – 8.

Not quite out of sight as far as the threat from Ossett was concerned, particularly as skipper Pearce took a yellow card in a case of mistaken identity on 36 minutes. Ossett were buoyed by the disruption to the hosts and launched perhaps their most venomous attacks of the game. Again the Ripon defence held firm and with Daley in particular, stepping up to halt the onslaught and use his tactical kicking ability to clear the lines.

The dying moment saw Ossett on the front foot with a succession of more penalties, but The Blues held firm and prevented their line from being crossed again. The final whistle went with 42 minutes played in the second half and both teams exhausted from their efforts. In a tough match against doughty opposition, Ripon will again have been reminded of the importance of discipline and keeping 15 players on the pitch at all times. Though the penalty count was 15 – 20 in Ripon’s favour, two yellow cards for whatever reason is not sustainable and The Blues really need to look deeply into the causes of penalty offences and eliminate them from their game. With five league games remaining and some tough fixtures ahead, Ripon can’t afford to drop any points or lose any players through indiscipline.

On a positive note, again a vibrant and successful performance from a much changed team that has to keep on forming and reforming each week and just keeps on gaining in confidence and ability.

Next week, Ripon continue with their league challenge by entertaining local friends and rivals Northallerton at Mallorie Park. With first placed Dinnington playing at home to second placed Yarnbury, this weekend’s activities could see Ripon narrowing the gap to a realistic promotion chasing position. All supporters very welcome for the 2.15 kick off.