Blue & Golds Go Down Fighting In Hull

The blue and golds played their final league match of the 2013/14 season and competed well for most of the game, and if they were more able to capitalise on attacking opportunities, the score line would have more reflected the game.

Hull Isberg were on the scoreboard as early as the third minute with a try which looked to have been scored off a forward pass. The try was awarded, and Steve Connolly was awarded ten minutes in the sin-bin for his protestations. The hosts increased their advantage with two further tries to stretch out to a 16-0 lead inside 25 minutes.

The visitors managed to settle down to the task in hand and began to cause their opponents some problems in attack. Ryan Watkin and Mike Cooper, who were drafted into the hooking role in place of Gavin Proctor, looked very lively in the middle of the field prompting and probing. The pick of the forwards looked to be Joe Wileman, who has certainly come on in leaps and bounds this season. Watkin pulled back a deserved try for Beverley on the half hour mark. It was a typically jinking run taking on several defenders to score. He added the extras himself to reduce the arrears to 16-6 at the break.

The second half saw Isberg increase their lead five minutes into the half, but Beverley had many more attacking opportunities in the half.

Will Mail and Jake Hart-Fisher both went agonisingly close to scoring. They had the ball stripped from their grasp at the final moment. As the visitors threw caution to the wind in the second half, one long pass was intercepted by a speedy Isberg winger, but Ashley Mayo showed equal speed to tackle him from behind covering all of 70 metres in the process.

The visitors could not add to Watkin’s earlier try despite throwhing everything at the home side and forcing numerous line drop-outs.

Isberg added a further late try. Ryan Watkin was the man of the match in a unanimous vote. There will now be just one end of season cup to compete for. The date of which is not yet known.

Final Score: Hull Isberg 24 Beverley ARLC 6 | Reported by Nick Robinson | Photos by Paul Linton