Sat 15 Feb 2020, 14:15
Roundhegians 13 – Ripon 8 
Hegians went into this game against Ripon, who are currently 3rd in the league, full of confidence after a good win the previous week against Rishworthians. Hegians were able to name the same team as the previous game, only adding Lee White and Iain Adamson to the squad to replace Tom Illingworth and Tom Priestley who were unavailable.
The weather had been pretty wet during the week and only just passed a pitch inspection on Saturday morning by 
the referee who was on exchange from the Isle of Man.
Hegians started the game well, attacking with the wind behind them, before giving a series of penalties away until eventually Ripon had the chance to kick for 3 points. As the ground was so muddy the Ripon kicker got a poor contact and pushed the ball wide. As the half wore on Hegians gradually got on top as they pushed Ripon back with some good kicking, especially from fly half James Dobson. On 15 minutes Ripon conceded a penalty in a kickable position and Alex Jones struck the kick well to take a 3-0 lead.
The game was pretty even with Hegians using the wind to their advantage but Ripon were disrupting Hegians lineout and stealing some good ball. Eventually Ripon forced a kickable penalty and this time made no mistake to equalise the score at 3-3. Hegians worked hard for the rest of the half and made good progress through their kicking game. However, the pressure to secure 1st phase ball prevented them from turning this into scores. Eventually Ripon conceded another kickable penalty and Alex Jones struck the ball well to take Hegians into a 6-3 lead.
As half time approached Hegians worked hard to try and score a try but did not look like breaking the Ripon defence. They did force another penalty but the kick at goal struck the post and Ripon were able to get the ball off the park to reach half time within 3 points.
Half Time : Roundhegians 6 – Ripon 3
Hegians had not really established a big enough lead at half time considering they had been playing with the wind at their backs and that was due to their problems at the lineout and towards the end of the half had also had problems at scrum time.
In the second half Hegians produced a text book display of how to play against the wind as they produced a powerful display of forward based rugby. From the kick off Ripon kicked the ball deep into Hegians 22 but with a good throw and catch at the line out, Hegians exited the danger zone thanks to a good kick from Rory Wollaston.
From this point on, Hegians started to dominate at the breakdown as they carried the ball well and made good ground through the forwards. James Dobson kicked well against the wind and Hegians forced their way into the Ripon 22. Hegians were able to keep Ripon pinned in their 22 for the next 15 minutes through some aggressive work from the forwards. Hegians worked hard at the breakdown as they consistently pressurised the Ripon forwards, turning over ball as well as forcing penalties allowed them to stay deep in Ripon territory. When Ripon did have the ball they were pressurised by Hegians and the Ripon half backs had a lot of difficulty getting kicks away.
Hegians returned most kicks from Ripon with interest as good positioning and kicking from James Dobson, Alex Jones and Rory Wollaston made sure that Hegians were in control of territory. Some good carries from all the forwards allowed Hegians to quickly bring the ball back into the Ripon 22.
It was only a matter of time before Hegians forced their way over for a try as James Dobson opened the ball to the backs and Alex Miyambo made a good break beating two defenders before linking up with Dave Gregory who went over for a try in the corner. An excellent kick from Alex Jones extended the lead to 13-3.
As the rain started to fall conditions became increasingly difficult to play and the game became bogged down in midfield. Ripon were not able to use the wind to gain territory so started to try and run the ball out of defence but Hegians defended well across the field and Ripon could not get round the Hegians defence. Hegians pushed for another score to make the game safe but Ripon were also trying hard to get back in the game. For the last 5 minutes Ripon pushed hard for the score but Hegians defended well on their own line, making some good tackles to keep Ripon out. Eventually Ripon got over in the corner for an unconverted try to take the score to 13-8.
The kick off by Hegians was the last play of the game and Ripon tried to run the ball back but the Hegians defence was too strong as Ripon could not force their way into the Hegians half till eventually Ripon were forced into giving a penalty away as Ali Coe caught a player in possession to claim the penalty and the win
Full Time Roundhegians 13 -Ripon 8
Another good win for Hegians against another team at the top of the table as they go well clear at the top of Yorkshire 2 now. Hegians had some difficulties in the lineout and scrum early on but were able to solve most of these as the game went on. However, it was the performance of the pack in the loose that was the difference between the teams as Hegians were more powerful and aggressive at the breakdown, which allowed them to dominate second phase possession. Hegians controlled the game well in the 2nd half and played some well organised and disciplined rugby.
Next Saturday Hegians are at home in the Yorkshire Silver trophy versus Goole and kick off is 2.15pm
