Ripon took to the road after a couple of comfortable weeks at home and ventured into the “Beverley Hills” of Bradford to play an in-form Baildon side and despite a spirited start, came off second best. Rapidly becoming Ripon’s bogey side, Baildon maintained their tradition of winning their home leg of this league tie and put in an emphatic second half display of power and passion, that The Blues found hard to live with. Whilst the first half was Ripon’s with a strong edge in all phases of play and the slope in their favour, the 10 – 6 half time lead looked a fair reflection of their efforts but maybe not good enough. With the elements in their favour in the second half, the hosts played the lie of the land and conditions better and with Ripon losing their usual strengths of shape and composure, compounded by another day of indiscipline resulting in three yellow cards; ran out worthy winners and ended Ripon’s hopes of extending their five game unbeaten run.

Whilst this doesn’t impact on league placings yet, it does extend the gap between Ripon and second placed Yarnbury and draw Baildon that little bit closer to Ripon’s third place. If Ripon are to be serious contenders for promotion now, they can’t afford to drop any points in their remaining matches.

With a target of no more than ten penalties per game, the final tally of 12 conceded by Ripon to Baildon’s 13 may not look too bad in the great scheme of things. Adding that all of Ripon’s points were scored from penalties, as were 23 out of Baildon’s total, it does go to show how important good discipline is, particularly when the outcome of indiscretions is to play with 14 men for 20 minutes. At least this week’s transgressions were consistently penalised, with all three of The Blues’ yellow cards being for high tackle related offences and both of the oppositions’ for off side.

For the second week running, the squad changes were in single figures, with five recalls and two positional changes. Again nobody was a stranger to pulling on the Blue Jersey, but this week the squad just didn’t quite manage to gel for the full 80 minutes. Leading from the front Keith Anderson had his second successive start at Loose Head and Skipper James Pearce held his own at Hooker for just the 78 minutes before his frustrating despatch. A dismissal so late as to not significantly impact on the outcome of the game, but a negative impact on morale nevertheless. Dom Dalby stayed the course at Tight Head and as well as dominating the set piece, had some solid carries with ball in hand.

The second row saw a happy reunion for Joe Middlemiss and a recalled Nick Perez again, both putting in a gritty display in the wet work department and the former falling foul of an unusual lapse in his tackle technique for a sin-binning. The back row saw a welcome return for Tom Roebuck back at Blind Side after his dalliance at Centre last week and with his partner in crime – Oscar Way changing to Open Side, between the pair of them dominated the line out. Way unfortunate to be the first casualty of the Referee’s strict interpretation of the tackle laws, with a yellow card at the midpoint of the first half. Euan Findlay completed the ensemble at Number 8 and fared better in the downhill phase of the game than the second half uphill struggle.

The backs weren’t spared from the changes either, though Cooper made his third successive start at Full Back. Tom Graham returned after a short break to the Left Wing and showed he was no slouch to grab Ripon’s first try in the first minute of play. Jack Mosley occupied the opposite Wing and whilst solid in defence, didn’t see sufficient ball to show his usual pace and flair. The Centre pairing was all change from last week and whilst Jacob Drane and Will Barrett are no strangers to the positions nor to playing together, they just weren’t able to generate their usual go forward and penetration. Nick Daley remained at Number 10 and suffered perhaps the most intense back row attention of the season to date, which hampered his space and freedom to make plays and Harry Drane at Scrum Half, also spent most of the game with someone hanging onto his shirt.

The bench saw front row stalwart “Macka” Koroiyadi brace himself for a second half impact and Charles Britton aiming to stay on the pitch two weeks on the trot. The final berth was occupied by Colt Zak Kirby, looking to impress out wide with his pace but again disappointed with the lack of opportunity the game presented.

In cold damp and misty conditions, the dreich uplands of Baildon were definitely more Pennine Hills than Beverley Hills, but with the ample visiting crowd of Riponians far outnumbering the locals, the scene was set for a mouthwatering encounter and perhaps the Counties 2 Yorkshire “Match of the Day”. Baildon kicked off towards the clubhouse side and through a miscommunication amongst would be receivers, the ball bounced innocuously into touch. Baildon had the line out throw in on the Ripon 10 metre line and were immediately penalised for gap closing. At just 35 seconds played. Daley hoofed downfield for a Ripon line out on the home 10 metre line. Roebuck delivered off the top and Daley shipped out to Dalby. The powerhouse Prop barged his way through the indifferent defence and catching everyone napping made some 30 metres. From the breakdown, Drane shipped the ball out wide to Graham, who cut back inside to scythe his way through the remain defence to touch down on just over one minute played. Harry Drane popped over the conversion for a neat 0 – 7 lead.

The restart gave Dalby another opportunity to charge down the middle of the field before being held up. From the following scrum, Dalby then blotted his copy book by being penalised for lowering – a technically unlikely occurrence due to the strength of the Ripon pack, but the Referee’s word being final, Baildon slotted a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 3 – 7.

Ripon got the better of the next few minutes, with Cooper fielding deep kicks well, Daley opening play up from under pressure and the whole Blues pack getting involved in carrying. The shine was rubbed off however, when on 18 minutes, Oscar Way was yellow carded for a head contact in the tackle. The shot at goal narrowed the gap further for the hosts to 6 – 7. Some injuries in the following moments saw Roebuck leave the field for good and Graham momentarily for treatment, though the latter seemed guarded for the rest of the game. The loss of Harry Drane as well, didn’t look good for Ripon and this disruption in the second quarter probably contributed heavily to the team’s second half demise. Cooper brought some brightness to the approaching gloom with a well struck penalty goal at 35 minutes to nudge the lead forward again to 6 – 10. As the end of the half approached, Ripon again pressed well, with some ground being made and a Daley cross kick that just missed the connection with Anderson could have been the right note to end the half on. Not to be though and despite play continuing up to 46 minutes and Ripon being granted a further penalty, the score remained at a worryingly close 6 – 10.

Ripon’s second half kick-off was neatly collected by Way and through Britton and Macka, the attack was launched uphill. A knock on saw the hosts clear and Ripon were pushed back for a line out put in back on their 10 metre line. Baildon took the line out after a scrabble and launched play downhill at pace. The Ripon defence held firm against three or four strikes before the tight inter-passing paid off and the hosts crossed the line for their first unconverted try and the lead at 11 – 10.

After this, Ripon struggled to get things consistently right and a couple of penalties against Britton for breakdown offences looked to get the Referee’s back up. So when a Joe Middlemiss tackle looked above limits, the man with the whistle despatched him for a 10 minute cool down. Not ones to overlook advantages offered, Baildon kicked the penalty goal to push them further to 14 – 10. Just to rub more salt into the wounds, Baildon struck immediately from the restart. A monster kick caught Kirby at the wrong angle and the loose ball was pounced on. With an overload of home players behind the Ripon defence, the run in was a formality and with the conversion the hosts extended their lead to 21 – 10 and The Blues looking a bit at sixes and sevens.

As the game transitioned into the final quarter, Ripon got a bit of a second wind and mounted some concerted efforts into home territory. A series of six penalties in rapid success, gave The Blues significant advantages, but again, lack of penetration or clinical finishing left them short of the magical points. The pressure eventually told after repeated thrusts at the home line by the likes of Dalby, Perez and Britton and a couple of off sides by the defence. With two home players yellow carded for their offences, Ripon opted for a five metres scrum instead of the goal or touch kick. As The Blues’ mean machine trundled it’s way over the Baildon line, the hosts wheeled and collapsed, giving the Referee no option but to award the penalty try to Ripon. At 21 – 17 with nine minutes to go, the game looked salvageable. The hosts however, were keen to hold on to their lead at all costs and really upped their pace and intensity. Forcing consecutive penalties from Barrett for holding on and then Pearce for a high tackle, the hosts increased their territorial and then personnel advantage with the despatch of Pearce for his tackle offence. The penalty goal attempt missed but from the clearance and following line out, Ripon were adjudged off side in the backs and Baildon sprung into action again. A quickly taken tap caught everyone off guard and the hosts rolled in for their third try, with the conversion taking the score to 28 – 17. The blast of the final whistle after a further five minutes couldn’t have come soon enough for Ripon, who again down to 14 men and an enthused opposition finished the game well and truly on the ropes. An inauspicious end to a game that Ripon started so well and like the descending fog, The Blues’ spirits at the end were just as gloomy.

With four remaining league fixtures, including against champions Dinnington away, plus the prospect of a couple of cup runs with Yorkshire Shield and Papa John’s Community Cup competitions starting, there is still much left to play for. The second promotion place to move up to Counties 1 Yorkshire may again elude Ripon, but the club can only do so much with the team it has. The constant disruption of multiple changes in each week’s line up, bodes well for the club’s strength in depth, but doesn’t lead to a consistently stable and high performing team week in week out. Maintaining good discipline amongst those who do play is also stating the blindingly obvious but can’t be stated strongly enough.

Next week, Ripon are back at home to entertain Bramley Phoenix in a Yorkshire Shield tie. All supporters very welcome for the 2.15 kick off and to cheer The Blues on to what is hoped to be another successful cup run.