Passionate Braves Draw With Hull Dockers

Pouring rain could not dampen the spirit of the young lads this week as Beverley Braves U13 took on an undefeated Hull Dockers. Straight from the whistle there were crunching tackles from both sides and you just knew this was going to be an excellent game. Dockers drove in hard and good runs from their play maker no 12 saw Braves pinned on their line, but some courageous tackling forced Dockers to hand over the ball and Dylan Clifford ran from his own line, the length of the pitch, for an outstanding try with a punch in the air as he went over for the first score of the match.

The rain did not relent and as the pitch got muddier possession of the ball was paramount. Dockers eventually capitalised on this with a long kick that brought play back to the Braves line, the tackles continued to go in hard but they penetrated the defence to level the score.

The Braves were not disheartened from this as they were all playing with such passion throughout the match. Owen Harrison, from the off, did a fantastic long kick which went above the heads of the Dockers to force a kick out from their line and Beverley regained possession for Joe Wardill to do a perfectly executed spin and try in the corner. Harrison was so unlucky not to convert as his kick hit the upright. Credit to Dockers though as they hit back straight from the off to score and kick to put the half time score at 10 8 to Dockers.

The teams turned straight around and Braves piled on the pressure from the whistle. Outstanding passing along the line saw Conor Egan run in hard to continue gaining valuable yards for Dylan Clifford to fight for his second try of the game. 12 10 Braves.

The game continued at this fast pace with Kurt Pelham breaking inside well from his new position of centre, and newcomers Tom Wood and Dan Norman finding out just how tough rugby league can be. Braves found the scrums hard work today against some strong Dockers. James McGahey took so many hard hits but continued to get up and straight back into the game even more determined. Tony Usher ran into a crunching tackle injuring him for the rest of the game.

Harry Gray and Jay Black both passed extremely well and gained valuable yards for Beverley but intense pressure from Dockers forced an error and they opted to take the penalty to level the score 12 all. With only minutes to go and both sides unrelenting Clifford and Jamie Branton dragged Dockers into touch and the passion on their faces said it all. Dockers regained possession and their no 12 broke free up the line for what seemed like a certain try but Wardill wrapped him up and dragged him into touch to end the game 12 12.

Every one of the Braves should hold their heads high as they played from their hearts with passion far beyond their years. Man of the match deservedly went to Conor Egan.