Ripon were able name an almost identical team from the week before for the away fixture at Whitkirk . The only change being Mark Tyson replacing James Mason . Talk before the game was where Ripon could be come final whistle with several of their rivals having either County Cup fixtures or postponements .

The pitch at Whitkirk whilst being in good condition is subject to a ‘slight’ slope , that coupled with a strong downhill wind made winning the toss very important . However on this occasion it went against Ripon and the home teams tactics seemed to be play with the slope and the wind advantage in the second half . Something i bet they employ all the time .

The game started at a lightening pace with both sets of players crashing into tackles from the off . After five minutes following good work down the left a good ball into the box was met by Adam Robinson who made no mistake from ten yards out . And just like the previous week Ripon found themselves a goal to the good very early into the game . If you thought the game might settle down now you would have been very much mistaken !!

A scramble in the middle of the pitch on the ten minute mark saw the Whitkirk centre half do a more forceful ‘Joey Barton’ impression on Ben Cohen . As tempers flared the number six was sent to the dressing rooms and the hosts now had a mountain to climb to get back into the game .

To their credit they certainly did and the ten man Whitkirk formation caused Ripon all sorts of problems . The pressure they posed paid off on the twenty minute mark when a free kick from the right was headed past Mark Rimmer from close range as the defence looked on . 1-1 and surely the Visitors would compose themselves and get back into the game ? Not to be . Five minutes later and Ripon failed to deal with a corner and it was only cleared to the edge of the area . A superb strike from the Whitkirk forward saw the ball fly into the net . Ripon were 2-1 down and you would think it was Whitkirk who had the man advantage not the other way round .

Surely now things could not get worse ?! Oh yes they could . Mark Tyson made what appeared to be a well time challenge in the box . The referee was having none of it and pointed to the spot . Up stepped the taker and cooly slotted it past Rimmer . Thirty minutes gone , 3-1 down and the prospect of playing uphill into a gale in the second half . Was it to be just a case of damage limitation ?

The answer was a firm no . Ripon started to play football once again . With Daz Simpson and Adam Robinson getting to grips more in midfield and Tom and Duncan starting to make more runs down the flanks . With five minutes left to the break a free kick was swung into the back post where Matt McGlinchey was on hand to tap in from close range . 3-2 at the break and the game was very much in the balance .

The equaliser could have come a minute after the break . Excellent work down the right by Ben Cohen saw his cross placed just inches wide by the on coming Luke Robinson . Minutes later and Ben could have found himself on the score sheet . Matty Foster found the striker with a through ball but although Ben beat the keeper he saw his shot just go over the bar .

Whitkirk still looked a danger on the break and the big number ten was well marshalled by Tim Edney and Mark Tyson . As the game wore on Tom Leeming had a good chance to level but shot wide . With the next goal looking like being the game changer it duly arrived in dramatic style .

Matt McGlinchey who had not scored in sixteen league games doubled his tally for the season with an unstoppable strike from twenty yards out . Latching on to a through ball the the left back found the bottom corner of net in impressive fashion sending Ripon bench into delight . 3-3 and now very much game on .

Changes were made as Tom Parkman and Jordan Emsley replaced Duncan Terry and Luke Robinson . The game looked to be heading for a draw and at this point both teams would probably settled for that . However there was to be one final twist . A shot on goal was only partly saved by the home keeper and guess who was on hand to slot in his third of the game . The final minutes of the match were played out to some fierce tackles and delightful comments from the home bench . Final whistle and a 4-3 victory to Ripon which looked very unlikely after the half hour mark !!

This was a very important victory . As other results came in it meant Ripon were now up to fourth place in the table . Whitkirk is certainly not an easy place to come to and definitely not for the faint hearted !! . The flowing football from last week was replaced by a far more physical approach .  Ripon to their credit stood up to the task well and thankfully came away with all three points . The hosts have some very good players and will cause a lot of teams problems as the ten men showed in this encounter .

Some excellent performances . Ben Cohen and Luke Robinson look a handful for any defence and Matty Foster battled hard against forwards twice his size !! However it is a very rare occurrence where a full back scores a hatrick (and should have had four but for a misplaced shot over the bar!!) . So man of the match (my opinion only) goes to Matt McGlinchey .

Next up is another ‘away day’ in Leeds this time at East End Park . EEP had a fantastic result at the weekend beating Knaresborough 4-1 . So as this league has proved week in week out there are no easy games and the hosts will be very much encouraged by this recent result . However Charlie has assembled a very good squad of players and for the time being sit in a very well deserved fourth spot in the league . Well done to all and job well done !!

Team 4-4-2 .

Rimmer , Foster , Tyson (C) , Edney , McGlinchey , Leeming , Adam Robinson, Simpson , Terry , Cohen and Luke Robinson .

Subs .

Parkman and Emsley .

Crowd 53 .