RIPON CITY MAGNETS FC (19/11/2005)

On Saturday 19th November I went to the delightful small city of Ripon in North Yorkshire to see the West Yorkshire League Division One match between Ripon City Magnets and Barwick at Ripon's Mallorie Park Drive ground. Following Barwick's 6-0 thrashing the week before at Sherburn White Rose, I came expecting plenty of goals and in an evenly contested 1st half, Barwick took a shock lead to go into the break a goal up. The 2nd half saw Ripon dominate and they soon equalised on a bitterly cold day and many other chances went begging but a mixture of good goalkeeping and poor finishing kept the scores level. Near the end a Barwick defender had a rush of blood to the head and hit a Ripon forward as the ball came into the penalty area and was immediately sent off by the referee. The resultant spot kick hit the post and came out again so the scores remained at 1-1.

The ground is quite good for this level, with a clubhouse in the corner as you enter the ground, a railed off pitch with dug outs and an impressive small seated stand along one side of the ground with the club name on the fascia. No admission was charged and no programmes were available. Luckily I had one from a couple of seasons ago when they were in the Premier Division of the West Yorkshire League but they have not issued since being relegated. The attendance was around 50.

Ripon is a very attractive town with a rececourse nearby, there is a large market square and some interesting pubs. There is a cathedral and lots of shops, restaurants etc. I travelled from London by train to York where I caught another train to Harrogate. At Harrogate station I turned right and walked about 100 yards to the bus station where a Number 36 bus goes to Ripon every 20 minutes at 10, 30, and 50 mins past each hour journey time approx 30 minutes - return fare was £4.60. It is approximately 7 or 8 miles from Harrogate. Coming back, again bus 36 is every 20 mins at 05, 25 and 45 mins past each hour. I spent a bit of time in Harrogate and visited the massive and very impressive Wetherspoons there and also had a couple of hours in York when I arrived back following the 2.15 pm kick-off at Ripon. All in all, despite being cold, the sun thankfully stayed out and it was an enjoyable day.

Steve King