Beverley RUFC Vs Cleckheaton

This was all very scrappy and pretty poor fare.  Beverley somehow ended up winners although it was hard to see how.  They were totally outplayed from start to finish by a side that was up for it and played all the decent rugby.  It was all a far cry from the superb rugby Beverley were playing in the first two games of the season.  They badly missed the directional play of the injured Tupai as well as Duboulay and Jelencic in the backs where there was little constructive use of the ball and the passing was all over the place.  They were never able to match the crisp handling and fluidity of the Cleckheaton backline which was only kept at bay by some good defending.

For ten minutes Cleckheaton had Beverley pinned in their own 22 without ever being quite able to break through.  Having weathered the early storm Beverley at last got play up to halfway where they promptly handed their opponents a simple try.  A loose pass inside in midfield went straight to wing forward Tom Clough who had a clear run to the line for a try which Ross Hayden converted.  Beverley were again having worrying problems in their lineout which was a mess all afternoon.  The departure of Cleckeaton lock Carl Mason with a red card for punching appeared to make no difference whatever to the lineouts.  Whether this was a reflection on Mason’s ineffectiveness or Beverley’s ineptness is a mute point.  In any case on the few occasions Beverley did win their own lineout the presentation was so poor that very little came of it.

On the stroke of halftime David Worrall went over for Beverley after charging down a clearance kick on the visitors 22.  On the run of play it was hardly what Beverley deserved but turning round only 7-5 down and with an extra man advantage in the wearing heat they had every chance to turn it all round in then second half.  Ian Archibald edged them ahead with a penalty for crossing after five minutes and they briefly looked as though they might go on to an easy victory.  Twenty minutes into the half a try by Jade Gardiner after a fine break by Worrall looked to have sealed it for Beverley with Archibald’s conversion taking them to 15-7.

But instead of stretching away Beverley lapsed into even greater lethargy and despite being a man down it was Cleckheaton who came back strongly.  Beverley were hardly ever out of their own half.  A lot of aimless kicking, poor decision making, and dreadful passing, contributed to their problems.  With ball in hand only Richard Bussey, and occasionally Gardiner, showed any real menace in the Beverley backline.  A clever bit of play by Jerry Barnes down the touchline nearly put Gardiner clear and Worrall did his best to raise the Beverley tempo but otherwise it was all pretty dire.  When Hayden kicked a superb penalty from the touchline to reduce the difference to a single try Beverley suddenly found themselves hanging on.

Despite their extra man advantage they were frequently pushed back in the scrums while outside the Cleckheaton backs were running with far more purpose and intent than their Beverley counterparts.  Yet even though they were bogged down in their own 22 for much of the last quarter, and with James McKay in the sin bin, Beverley stuck it out with some dogged defending.  In the last minute Cleckheaton did eventually get the chance to snatch victory but with a two man overlap and a simple walk-in for the wing their centre opted to go alone and was tackled.  After all their domination Cleckheaton no doubt felt in the end that justice was not, but to have thrown away such a simple match winning opportunity at the death will have lost them much of the sympathy anyone might have had.  For Beverley, however out of sorts they might have been, a win is a win, and three victories from four games represents a good start to the season.

Action pictures from Beaver Park where the Beverley RUFC took on Cleckheaton in the National 3 North League, Beverley came from behind to win the game, full match report to follow. Beverley 15 Cleckheaton 10

Ian Archibald the Beverkey scrum half plays the ball out to the backs

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if you would like a copy of your photo, by sending an email to paul@hu17.net