Looking anything but a side that had not played for six weeks Beverley RUFC cruised to a comfortable victory over a disappointing Sheffield Tigers to maintain their position in the upper half of League Three North. Sheffield were a pale shadow of the side that had played so impressively earlier in the season at Beaver Park and for much of the game Beverley RUFC needed merely to sit back and wait for the Tigers’ attacks to founder through basic errors.
In the early play the Sheffield game plan was centred on sustained rumbling forward by their hefty pack. They certainly had a huge weight advantage and in the opening minutes it looked likely that they would make the most of it. But they lacked the mobility of the lighter Beverley RUFC eight who kept them at bay and it was Beverley RUFC who steadily got on top. After ten minutes Goran Jelencic with a nice interception raced clear to the line but somehow the defence got back and prevented him grounding the ball. In the event nothing was lost for Beverley RUFC because a penalty followed and David Worrall with a quick tap kick forced his way over for a try which Phil Duboulay converted.
Both sides had a fair share of the ball but Beverley RUFC made better use of their possession by keeping it simple and moving the ball about quickly. Sheffield in contrast seemed to lack direction and were constantly running up blind alleys. Junior Tupai throughout the first half was the game’s outstanding player regularly creating openings with his probing in midfield.
A thrilling fifty metre run out of defence by Richard Bussey led to a penalty which Duboulay converted and two further Duboulay penalties took Beverley RUFC sixteen point clear. Sheffield had plenty of possession but all the constructive rugby in this half was coming from Beverley RUFC. Worrall nearly got over again after a chip over the defence by Duboulay and Jade Gardiner was unluckily brought down after Tupai had cleverly set up an opening down the right.
It was not until nearly halftime that Sheffield eventually got into the Beverley RUFC 22 for the first time. With their best move of the match they looked certain to score in the corner only to be denied by a tremendous covering tackle by Bussey. They might still have got onto the scoreboard but David Scully, who had already demolished a satellite dish on the clubhouse wall with an earlier penalty, then saw a simple kick from in front of the posts go wide.
The second half was mostly pretty tepid. Sheffield with their continuing waywardness never really looked like scoring and Beverley RUFC needed only to sit back and contain them. There was certainly very little memorable rugby going on. Young hooker Alexander Forth made a promising debut for Beverley RUFC and there were some nice touches here and there from Duboulay but the game eventually deteriorated in a chapter of errors by both sides. None the less it was a good team performance by Beverley RUFC especially by their pack. Even when a man short with Craig Hancock in the sin bin they still more than held their own. In the later stages despite having a long series of scrums on the Beverley RUFC line the big home pack could still make nothing of it.
Duboulay hit the post with a penalty and Jamie Gill was unlucky with a long range attempt which dropped just short. Apart from that neither side had really looked like adding to the halftime score. In the end it was a satisfying day for Beverley RUFC who had shown little ill effect from their long lay-off. Their only disappointment was the loss of Gardiner and Francis Pickering with injuries although Dale Hodgson and Mark Hatfield both proved able replacements.
