A hugely disappointing day. Beverley RUFC never seem to do themselves justice at Morley but they seldom play quite as poorly as they did today. They bore little resemblance to the side that finished so impressively last week against Penrith and the only surprise was that they did not concede a lot more than twenty six points.
Morley played with exuberance and dash from start to finish while Beverley RUFC looked lethargic and rudderless. Basic simple errors bedevilled them all afternoon – the ball hardly ever got beyond two pairs of hands before it was dropped or knocked on. Some sort of game plan might have helped but they did not seem to have one.
The pattern for the afternoon was set as early as the second minute. Beverley RUFC took the ball at the kick-off and promptly conceded a penalty which winger Simon Bradshaw converted from wide out. Only four minutes later Morley then went eight points up when second row Tom Hanson broke away from a maul in the Beverley RUFC 22 to charge over for a try in the corner. Beverley RUFC had hardly touched the ball. It looked like being a long afternoon and it was.
They might have got back into it almost straight away. A high kick out of defence by Chris Infield bounced kindly for winger James Graham who had a clear run to the line. but he knocked on and that was end of any serious Beverley RUFC threat for the rest of the first half. All afternoon Beverley RUFC’s problems were again compounded by poor lineout work and they badly need to get this sorted out. One lineout on their own 22 which they made a complete mess of led to a scrum from which Morley prop Paul Gabriel rumbled over for another try which Bradshaw converted.
A Bradshaw penalty on 22 minutes took Morley eighteen points clear but after that Beverley RUFC did somehow manage to stem the tide. Not that they ever looked like scoring themselves although Phil Duboulay was unlucky to be penalised for crossing after making a lovely break which deserved a score.
Within two minutes of the start of the second half Morley were back in scoring mode. A high Morley kick out of defence was dropped by Beverley RUFC on halfway – no surprise there – allowing Morley to surge up to the 22 where Beverley RUFC immediately conceded a penalty which Bradshaw converted. Normal service had quickly been resumed.
Realistically after that it was merely a question of how many more points Morley would score. Bradshaw rounded off a slick back move by chipping ahead and touching down to take the score to 26-0. But surprisingly that turned out to be it for Morley who proceeded to squander numerous clear chances to add more points.
Indeed in the later stages Beverley RUFC started to make a much better fist of it, mainly through some determined surges by David Worrall and prompting by Duboulay. They seldom looked like scoring but at least they were keeping Morley more or less at bay. Their golden moment eventually arrived on sixty minutes when they at last managed to put together their only fluid back move of the day and this brought a consolation try for Ben Johnson.
Duboulay’s conversion from wide out gave a slightly more respectable look to the score. In fact they very nearly scored again when winger Rob Smith scooped up a Duboulay crosskick and sprinted to the line only to be unluckily brought back for what looked a very harsh offside ruling.
The end when it came was a merciful release all round for Beverley RUFC. Quite why they had performed so dismally after such a fine effort the previous week was a mystery.
It is certainly to be hoped that this was a one-off which will not be repeated at home against Lymm next Saturday.
Reported by John Nursey | Morley 27 Beverley RUFC 7
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