Good in patches but much of this game was rather messy and unmemorable. Given Beverley RUFC’s parlous injury crisis the result was probably what could have been expected. That they restricted Bradford to only two tries and a conversion in the second half was a credit to Beverley RUFC who had turned round 41-0 down after being heavily outplayed in the first half. In fact the second half was a wholly commendable effort by Beverley RUFC and if they had taken their chances and defended better earlier on they might have given the Bees a much closer game. Numerous good openings were created only to founder through a poor final pass. In truth much of Bradford’s passing was equally as bad, if not worse, than Beverley RUFC’s although in their case with points mounting on the board it scarcely mattered.
Beverley RUFC got off to the worst possible start. Within five minutes they were 12-0 down through two tries and a conversion by winger Gavin Stead, the first after Beverley RUFC had a clearance kick charged down and the second the result of a cross kick to the corner which found Beverley RUFC with no-one at home. A nice break in midfield should have brought an immediate response for Beverley RUFC but Steve Johnson just failed to make it to the line. Beverley RUFC’s tackling was looking extremely suspect and Bradford’s number eight Guy Ford charged over for two further tries, firstly taking a quick tapped free kick five metres out and then breaking away direct from a five metre scrum.
Cross kicks to the corners brought further tries for centre Ben Greaves and Stead taking the score to 36-0 after only half an hour. With their defence in some disarray it all looked ominous for Beverley RUFC. Lock Richard Hughes went over in the corner to give Bradford a 41-0 interval lead and a final score of mammoth proportions seemed distinctly likely.
But the second half was an altogether different affair. Bradford may have slightly taken their foot off the pedal although it did not particularly look like it. In any case Beverley RUFC hit back strongly with some spirited play much of it inspired by Junior Tupai in the centre. Winger James Graham should have scored when Tupai put him clear and several other clear cut chances were created but went begging. The loss of Mike Bradshaw with a shoulder injury was the last thing Beverley RUFC needed with their present injury situation but the arrival from the bench of Tony Riby-French and Max Alderson in no way reduced the effectiveness of the pack. The big Bradford forwards were certainly given a good run for their money in the second half.
Despite the heavy defeat there were positives for Beverley RUFC. Rob Smith, deputising for the absent Phil Duboulay, slotted in splendidly at fly half and looked unlucky to get a yellow card, apparently for offside. Steve Johnson ran and kicked well at full back, and Mike Kilgannon despite virtually no previous rugby this season harried and worked effectively at scrum half. Up front Manu Kirkwood was constantly involved and either by design or accident invariably found himself on hand at critical times.
A scorching run down the right touchline by Stead brought Bradford their seventh try which almost immediately Beverley RUFC countered with a try of their own. A fine break by Tupai and a clever reverse pass sent centre Ben Johnson sprinting to the posts. With Steve Johnson adding the conversion it was no less than Beverley RUFC deserved. At the death fly half Giles Hetherinton touched down for a converted try taking Bradford to the fifty point mark for the second week running.
For Beverley RUFC, all things considered, it was another brave performance. They had a good second half and could have finished with a lot more than seven points. They must now soldier on and hope that some of their injured senior players will be fit to return for the tough visit to Birkenhead Park next week.
Reported by John Nursey
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