Friendly matches – manager: Robert Mumford
Handicaps are not used and the team usually consists of between 6 and 8 players.
In 2023, the club played the following:
Home matches
| 4th May | Dales | |
| 29th June | Bishop Monkton | |
| 6th July | Backworth | |
| 11th July | Ben Rhydding |
Away matches
| 17th May | Backworth | |
| 15th June | Dales | |
| 18th July | Bishop Monkton | |
| 31st August | Ben Rhydding |
Our first match was at home against the Dales, on a cold day. The competition was, as usual, very friendly and the result was a win for Ripon Spa.
Our second match was at Backworth on 17th May, when the weather was kinder, but not as warm as the welcome. Backworth had a full team of 8, but we could muster only 6, which involved all Ripon players having a couple of games playing on their own against a pair. The difference was quite interesting. The result was a win for our hosts.
On 15th June, we travelled to Bedale on a very hot Thursday and were beaten by the home team for the first time. We were better after lunch, but could not get close to the home team.
On 29th June, our close neighbours, Bishop Monkton came over for a match. Our newest member, Toni Harmer, played in his first match. We were better after lunch, but could not quite close the gap. The result was very close. 100 hoops for the visitors and 98 for the hosts.
On 6th July, Backworth came down for the return. Yet again, we were better after lunch, but could not quite close the gap. The result was very close. 108 hoops for the visitors and 106 for the hosts. We may need to reconsider what we have for breakfast.
On 11th July, Ben Rhydding came over with 2 new players, Jackie and Colin, both of whom played very well. We were better before lunch, and extended the gap. The result was 116 hoops for the us and 82 for the visitors. We look forward to the return match at the end of August.
A week later, we visited Bishop Monkton and, while the morning was dry, it did rain after lunch. Our hosts offered us players to fill 2 gaps in our team, which worked satisfactorily, though hostliness [is this a real word?] ended there. The home team scored 152 hoops to the visitors 122. There is always next year!
We went to Ben Rhydding on the last day of August and enjoyed summer weather, good croquet and companionship plus lovely home made cakes. The contest was close all day, and the result was 94 hoops to the home team and 101 to the visitors. 4 of the 7 hoops margin were won by Pat and Kerry in the final round of games
