RIPON skipper Gary Blackburn has challenged his side to rediscover their form in the wake of Saturday’s derby day defeat to Studley Royal.
Steve Walmsley’s side have maintained a 63-point lead at the top of the Division One tree after their victo
rious five-wicket trip to Studley Road.
They will attempt to put further daylight between them and the chasing pack tomorrow when fifth-placed Bridlington make the trip to Galphay Road (1.30pm start).
But for Ripon Blackburn is seeking a response when they travel to Malton & Old Malton tomorrow.
“We haven’t won a game for a month now,” said Blackburn.
“But we know we’re OK. We just need to get a win under out belts and then hopefully go on a bit of a run. A few wins and we’ll move up the table again so we’re looking to do that.
“Saturday was disappointing because we batted well. It was nice for me to get a few runs but because we lost it didn’t count for anything in the end.
“Pip Warters batted really well for his 72 but Studley bowled tightly and batted well. They fully deserved their win but for us we need to come back.”
On Saturday Blackburn lost the toss again but with his side put into bat the skipper laid the foundations for a big total scoring a superb 115 not out with Warters cracking 72 as they made 211-4.
Royal skipper Walmsley did his bit with the ball taking 3-69 off his 19 overs. He then made 43 in response with support from Matt Coad (33) and Rob Mackle (52no) as they managed to pull home on 213-5.
In the Studley camp skipper Walmsley is hoping his side put travelling Bridlington to the sword tomorrow to maintain their stranglehold on the division.
Royal are looking high and mighty at the moment and full of beans after their victory over local rivals Ripon at the weekend.
But Walmsley is desperately hoping his side maintain their title sprint against their unpredictable opponents tomorrow.
“Bridlington are a funny team,” said Walmsley.
“You don’t quite know what to expect against them. They’ve got a few good players we have to watch like the Winterbottom brothers who seem to take a lot of wickets and score runs.
“But we’ve just got to keep going. We’re nearly half-way through the season but there’s a long way to go.”
On Saturday Walmsley was full of praise for his opposition captain after witnessing the best knock against Studley so far this season.
He was also pleased with Studley’s batting display as they showed enough muscle once again to jump over the winning line.
“The highlight of the game was Gary’s 115. He and Chris Warters batted really well, we manged to get Paul Reynolds out early and that was a big wicket,” he added.
“But then Gary and Pip put on over a hundred for the second wicket. I think they only gave us one chance when I dropped a caught and ball but it was proabably the best knock against us this season.
“But we batted well in reply.
