Beverley Cruise To Emphatic Victory

Another good day for Beverley RUFC. They needed to record a big win here to boost their points difference and they did it in fine style. Darlington are having an unhappy time since their promotion into North One East and they were heavily outclassed today in a totally one-sided contest. Beverley RUFC were simply rampant and most of their twelve tries were right out of the top drawer. On this showing it is doubtful if any of the other sides in the league could have lived with them today, let alone one struggling at the foot of the table.

Darlington kicked off in bright autumn sunshine with a stiff wind behind them. For twenty minutes they looked anything but a side without a win all season. They attacked the Beverley RUFC line with plenty of gusto from their impressive pack. Yet after twenty six minutes of dominance they were already 21-0 down. After a quarter of an hour winger Lee Birch set off from deep in his own half and simply glided through the visitors’ defence for what was the try of the day. Sadly he had to leave the field immediately afterwards having damaged his foot in scoring but his contribution, though brief, was hugely spectacular.

Ten minutes later Richard Bussey broke away down the right and put Sam Atiola over for Beverley RUFC’s second try and within a minute Phil Duboulay with a rare turn of speed raced in from thirty metres for a third. Despite plenty of endeavour Darlington rarely looked like scoring and their defending behind the scrum was pretty woeful. Further Beverley RUFC tries followed in quick succession from Goran Jelencic, Junior Tupai, Bussey and Chris Brant. All of them involved scintillating handling and excellent support work which was a feature of Beverley RUFC’s play throughout.

Turning round 47-0 up after playing into the bitter wind was a happy position for Beverley RUFC at halftime and within ten minutes they had added to it with further converted tries from Brant, Sam Kerry, and Tomasi Tanumi. A third converted try by Brant with a quarter of an hour left took Beverley RUFC to 75 points.

Darlington to their credit never gave up and stuck at it bravely despite the hammering they were getting. They deserved some reward and when at last a forward drive brought them a consolation try by loose head Joe Oselton it produced the biggest cheer of the afternoon from the touchline. Duboulay immediately rounded off the scoring when he cut straight through the middle for a final try. Apart from his two tries he banged over eleven of his twelve conversion attempts bringing his personal points tally for the afternoon to 32.

In the second half Darlington had long spells of possession and Beverley RUFC frequently found themselves on the back foot. Old habits die hard and the penalty count against them rose steadily as the game wore on. But whenever they had the ball in their hands it looked odds on that a score would result. Darlington simply had no answer to the speed and slick movement of the home backs and the Beverley RUFC pack were outstanding to a man. It is perhaps unfair to single out any individuals after such a fine team effort but the back row of Joe Picketts, Brant and Fraley Hopa was particularly impressive. But then in truth the tireless contribution of Craig Hancock and Matty Adams in the second row was almost equally so, and not far behind was Ed Ryan who made an encouraging debut at scrum half.

The size of victory left Beverley RUFC with a points difference now superior to that of their closest rivals Wheatley Hills and they have closed the gap at the top to two points. To have scored 375 points in nine games with a points difference of 258 is some achievement at this stage of the season. Next week’s visit to Northern will be a tougher test but Beverley RUFC will surely travel up to Newcastle full of confidence after this performance.

Final Score: Beverley RUFC 82 Darlington 5 | Reported by John Nursey

Photos by Paul Linton