Hard Work Ensures Braves Edge Out Vikings At Leisure Centre

Two games played and two games won for Beverley Braves 14s, but once again it was a close finish as they ran out 27-23 winners against Holderness Vikings at the Beverley Leisure Centre.

This was the first victory for this age group over the Vikings since they were under 10s, but it took a lot of hard work to get the win as the visitors pummelled the Braves defence non stop in the final 10 minutes, scoring to close the gap to just four minutes with only one minute remaining.

From the moment, Ollie Gresswell took the Holderness kick off and took the ball up for the first drive both teams gave a huge amount in both defence and attack, and whilst there were silly penalties and errors on both sides, it was an entertaining game for the parents watching on the spring sunshine.

Holderness were first to score fielding a kick in their own half to burst through some average tackling. It looked certain to be a try but wing Will Kirkup chased back superbly well to bring the attacker down. Kai Johnson was a little too enthusiastic with his follow up to that tackle and earned himself 10 minutes in the sin bin for his efforts.

From that penalty, the Vikings scored an unconverted try to take a nil4 lead. That was how the score remained for a further 10 minutes, but not for the want of attacking flair and defensive guile. Will Swainston showed the way in both of these with some great defence and an ever willing runner of the ball, similar can be said for Henry Hughes and Ethan Rowbotham. From a scrum, the Braves shifted the ball to the left with William Wallis finding the gap to get over the line to level the scores.

Jack Turner who left the field injured a little later was unlucky with the conversion attempt, hitting the post from a wide angle. At 4all, it was game on and just a few minutes later came a brilliant try, Archie Murdoch and Wallis swapped passes several times down the right-hand side with Murdoch rounding the move off with a try. Marcus Walker’s conversion put Beverley ahead by 10-4. This score did not last long.

A converted try pulled the score’s level, and the Vikings now began to dominate the game scoring again to make it 10-16, then in order to put them two scores ahead and turn the game on its head put over a drop goal, 10-17. Time for a change in personnel and on came tackle machine Ollie Loney, who lived up to that moniker straight away ably assisted by the newly introduced George Bennett-Teare and Josh Pearson. Beverley managed to stem the tide until half-time, and that is how the score remained until then.

Second half and the Braves knew what they had to do with scrum-half Lewis Egan as ever supplementing his normal defensive stint by taking on the line and getting the Beverley go-forward going. Bennett-Teare was also instrumental in getting Beverley on the front foot with several strong drives before Walker put the ball up high on the last tackle causing confusion in the Vikings defence allowing the alert Adam Ramsden to pounce on the bouncing ball and score, with Walker’s conversion, it was now 16-17.

Moments later, stand-off Walker slotted over the drop goal, and it was the Beverley half-backs who were now managing the game well. A rush of blood to the head from Wallis ended with a spell in the sin bin, but the Braves did not appear to be a man down as first Johnson barged over from close range to score, again converted by Walker and then Hughes stepped inside to barge over wide on the left after a strong run from Harry Vorwerg had set up the field position. Despite the missed conversion, Beverley now had a 10 point buffer, but Holderness were not going to give in just yet.

The final 10 minutes was almost completely all Holderness as they attacked time and again – cue the brave defensive effort, Full back Ben Hodder taking a kick well, Ryan Deane, Mr. Utility – covering three different positions during the game – raced out to make a crucial tackle as the ball went to the floor and Walker’s great down field kick finding touch from inside his own half just a metre from the Viking’s line to relieve the pressure again.

However, despite the efforts of man of the match Swainston, Rowbotham, Egan, et al the pressure was bound to tell and eventually a chip through produced a converted try for Holderness, and the last minute required a lot of resolve from Beverley to hang on to the win by 27-23.