Bulls Clinch Play Off Victory At The Leisure Centre

Beverley Braves under 12s had their first taste of play-off football with another fantastic match against Skirlaugh Bulls.

These two teams were meeting for the third time in five weeks with the first game a draw and the second a one-point victory for Skirlaugh it was always going to be a close one. However, it did not seem like that would be the case when, after the Bulls struggled to cope with the long kick-off, a blockbusting run from the a Skirlaugh player found a gap to race clear and touch down under the posts on the second tackle. 0-6 with less than a minute on the clock.

The Braves were obviously still in bed as time and again their handling let them down, with four knock-ons in their first five sets. With no respect for possession, it meant the Beverley defence had to be at their best and apart from that lapse in the first minute it pretty much was.
A little light in the forwards and further hampered by the loss of Matty Brown with a knee injury just two minutes into the game, it was up to others to step up and take on the workload.

This was shown by a best defensive game of the season for make-shift prop Thomas Cohen, hooker Jack Turner and loose forward Ryan Deane. All three put in a great defensive display supporting the inevitable hard work from Ethan Rowbotham, Oliver Gresswell and George Bennett-Teare.

At the back, Ewan Morton was solid when called on and wings Tom Newton and Will Kirkup supported their team-mates well, despite the limited opportunities. It was a disappointment. Therefore, when Skirlaugh were able to score again before half-time to take the score to 0-10 at the break.

This Braves team are exactly that, a strong team that works well for each other and does not let their heads go down anymore. They came out in the second half with renewed vigor, led by Bennett-Teare, who had a monster of a second half taking on the Bulls line. After Archie, Murdoch had gone so very close to scoring, held up over the line, the Braves pressure had to tell and Bennett-Teare running out wide was always going to be the one to back as he crashed over on the right. 4-10 and Beverley had some belief again.

They began to play rugby like we know they can William Wallis causing problems with his mazy running and Lewis Egan enjoying the space he created as he looked to pass and then darted away from the oncoming defence. Rowbotham took the ball up well now that the ‘disappearing mouth-guard’ mystery had been solved.

The ball was kept alive well and when Wallis turned in the tackle, he popped up a delightful pass for Marcus Walker to race on to and score on the right, it was a great role reversal, Walker being the creator of many tries for Wallis this season. Walker converted his own try and at 10all, we were back in the same boat again.

The Braves still needed to defend and cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Joe Dennis making his first appearance since June did what he does best, a series of crunching tackles. Both teams began to look for a way to win the game, on attack a ball went to ground for the Braves and Ben Hodder.

Kirkup and Walker combined to force the Bulls into touch in the right-hand corner to save the score. With the clock ticking down Skirlaugh worked the ball to the left corner before spreading it back along the line to score a well worked rugby league try on the right and clinch the game 10-14.

A real disappointment for the Beverley lads who deserved more from the game, but a thoroughly entertaining game watched in the sun by a large group of parents and friends from both sides. Men of the match for the Braves were Bennett-Teare for being a monster, Newton and Wallis for their outstanding contributions not just in this game but in several matches recently.

Final Score: Beverley Braves 10 Skirlaugh Bulls 14