Yorkshire Division Two: Old Grovians 8 Ripon 17

OLD Grovians, bolstered by the signing of experienced centre Thomas Admiral-Moody, couldn't quite make their improvements pay off against well-drilled mid-table visitors Ripon, who have a hunger for playing entertaining rugby.

Ripon were on the board with a penalty within a minute of kick-off but Grovians were quick to respond, putting the visitors under pressure and forcing an error to gain a penalty of their own, which was well converted by Ben Brown.

Promising opportunities for both sides were thwarted by handling errors but eventually Ripon get a second penalty for a high tackle to make it 6-3 in their favour.

Old Grovians' backs did show their fluidity and pace from long kicks and chases and interceptions, but the referee deemed some of those to be illegal.

However, the strength of Joe Garforth allowed them to put together some good phases, but he knocked on just when it looked as if Ripon were flustered.

Another penalty gave Ripon a 9-3 half-time lead but they capitalised on some indecision to get their only try, a long Ripon clearance being allowed to bounce and, from the ensuing line-out, Ripon bagged a pushover try.

A deliberate knock-on led to a successful penalty to extend the lead to 17-3, only for Grovians to mount sustained attacks for the last 20 minutes.

Denied by passes that didn't stick and a couple of misdirected line-outs, the home side scored when Admiral-Moody powered over from a rolling maul, taking two Ripon defenders with him.

The conversion was missed and, even more unfortunately, Garforth was then denied a try in the corner by an unsighted referee when the conversion would have given Old Grovians a draw.

However, there were plenty of positives from this game for Grovians, such as a vastly improved overall display, which included a better organised defence, improved positioning and movement of the ball between forwards and backs, and much improved supporting play at the breakdowns.