RUGBY UNION : Beverley Defeated In Basement Battle

A fine autumn day and ideal conditions for rugby but in the end not much cheer for Beverley RUFC.  Perhaps predictably they found themselves totally outclassed.

Saturday they took the field with a side looking even more inexperienced and makeshift than any that we had already seen this season.  Westoe in contrast looked anything but a side starting the game in bottom position and they comfortably romped away with it.  As a result Westoe change places with Beverley who are now left propping up the table.

In the circumstances any talk about taking positives from this game would be futile.  At present Beverley are simply having an altogether tough time of it.  The need to find some backs from somewhere is now desperate.  They started today with Richard Bussey at scrum half.  He personally had a good match but he was their fifth scrum half in seven games.  Beyond fly half and inside centre the back play was alarmingly fragile.  Fortunately the forwards once again gave a good account of themselves.  Westoe had a formidable muscular pack but for most of the game Beverley held their own.  What the Beverley pack lacked, and has lacked all season, was someone with the physical stature and commanding presence that the impressive Andy Perry was able to bring to the Westoe forward game.

Kicking off downhill Beverley might have gone ahead in the opening minutes but the pass to Phil Duboulay which sent him racing to the posts was adjudged forward.  Sadly Beverley never again managed to carve out such a clear opening although for ten minutes they frequently threatened.  But it was Westoe who struck first when their pack drove to the line and number eight Jordan McKenzie touched down in the corner.

After that Beverley steadily faded from contention.  Up front the line-outs were again working well with Ben Watson always prominent and the forwards generally were making good ground and working hard, none more so than the tireless Matty Adams.  But outside the home centres Alex Clark and Reggie Fassa were a constant threat against fragile defending.  On half an hour a powerful burst through the middle brought a second Westoe try, scored by scrum half Chris Jordan and converted by Jordan Carey.  Almost simultaneously Beverley had both Martin Shaw and Junior Tupai yellow carded and that more or less signalled the end for Beverley.

Left wing Chris Laycock had an easy run-in at corner for a third home try to take it to 17-0.  Beverley did eventually get going with a Duboulay penalty on the stroke of halftime but they turned round fourteen points adrift and faced a second half playing up the slope against a side full of confidence and going strongly.

Ten minutes into the half McKenzie touched down for his second try.  Carey added the conversion and shortly followed it with a penalty.  Clark then scored the try of the day with a powerful run from halfway sweeping aside numerous half-hearted tackles.  Five minutes from time Fassa burst through for a sixth home try after Beverley lost the ball when they tried to break out from their own 22.

37 points conceded but Beverley never really caved in.  As far as they were able they tried to play with ambition, at one time even trying to attack from behind their own line.  Tupai made a lovely break and put the ball wide but the likelihood of any Beverley back outside him successfully sprinting the length of the field was remote.  Realistically any hope of Beverley adding to their score rested with their forwards.

Numerous times they attacked the home line with a series of pick and drives and with the last action of the game they eventually got over in the corner.  Joe Fell got the touchdown and Duboulay added the conversion to bring a slightly more respectable look to the final score.  Given the difference in quality between the teams the outcome might easily have been a great deal worse.

Final Score : Westoe 37 Bevelrey RUFC 10 | Reported by John Nursey