Beverley RUFC Vs Sheffield Tigers

A disappointing afternoon all round, for Beverley at any rate.  It was a lovely autumn day with perfect playing conditions but sadly we got very little flowing rugby and for eighty minutes almost nothing but relentless grinding away by the Tigers’ forwards at the Beverley line.  For the whole game the Beverley pack was heavily outgunned and pushed all over the place but they gave it everything in defence and put up a tremendous rearguard action.  Sheffield had almost unlimited possession for most of the match but it was not until the dying stages that they eventually managed to stretch away.

Beverley had a good opening ten minutes when they played some fluent rugby and had Sheffield penned in their own half.  They were moving the ball about well and initially looked the sharper side.  But after that Sheffield increasingly got into their stride while Beverley steadily went under.  Three times the Tigers opted for scrums on the Beverley line when they had the chance of easy penalty kicks at goal but each time they were held at bay.  When eventually they did go for goal after Beverley had handled in the scrum John Buchanan gave them a deserved lead.

Beverley found it more and more difficult to get out of their own half as the game progressed.  Their lineout work was far better than for some weeks, with Gavin Gibson doing well, but in the set scrums they were pushed back remorselessly and their kicking out of hand behind the scrum was pretty awful.  There was again a reluctance to move the ball on quickly through the hands in midfield and it was not until five minutes before the break that a pass eventually reached Beverley’s potential match winner Goran Jelencic on the wing.  The pass when it came was not from a fellow back but from David Worrall who sent Jelencic away on a powerful run into Sheffield territory.  When the winger was held after being tackled Ian Archibald kicked the penalty to level the scores.  It was the first time Beverley had been in the Tigers half for about half an hour.

3-3 at halftime Sheffield re-took the lead immediately from the kick-off.  Beverley fielded the ball and promptly returned it with an aimless kick straight into enemy hands.  Sheffield moved the ball wide and swept downfield for centre Tom Outram to go over for a gifted try.  After that it was all over for Beverley as the powerful Sheffield pack drove at them relentlessly.  Beverley never looked like coming back.  It is a long time since we last saw a Beverley pack so out-muscled but in defence they were magnificent, time and again keeping their line intact with some tremendous defending.  Worrall, as is his wont, led from the front.  The rest of the pack gave him superb support, none more so than Francis Pickering, Mark Hatfield and Martin Shaw in the front row who were up against a very powerful and experienced Tigers trio.

Eventually the pressure told and while Beverley were down to fourteen men with Matthew Adams in the sin bin hooker Hugo Horn touched down to increase the Tigers’ lead.  Beverley could get hardly any possession and what they did get they quickly lost through poor kicking or indifferent handling in the backs.  In the last ten minutes the dam finally began to burst and Sheffield added two more converted tries, one a penalty try and one a nicely worked touch down by Jimmy Pearson.  The final victory margin was no less than Sheffield deserved but given all the possession they had had it probably ought to have been greater.  For Beverley it was again a disappointing day after their fine start to the season.  They badly missed the injured Tupai in the centre and again contributed to their own misfortune through too easily giving away possession.

Pictures from the National 3 North League rugby match between Beverley RUFC and the Sheffield Tigers at Beaver Park. Beverley 3 – Sheffield Tigers 27

Adams of Beverley was controversially booked after this move for ‘not binding’

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image, these are just some of the pictures please contact us
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Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image, these are just some of the pictures please contact us
if you would like a copy of your photo by sending an email to paul@hu17.net

JOHN LOCK MEMORIAL DAY – SATURDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2009