Vikings Late Tries Steal Victory From Beverley ARLC

The blue and golds were in action for the first time in six weeks last Saturday when they travelled to Keyingham on a bright but bitterly cold afternoon. They went down to defeat despite leading 20-18 with only 15 minutes to go. It was a performance packed with pride and effort and only the odd mistake which seemed to be punished on every occasion proved to be their undoing. They went into the game with a somewhat makeshift pack due to injuries to Lee Stevens and Aaron Horsfield necessitating Steve Davidson moving from his normal stand off role to prop forward.

The home side took an early lead when Beverley fumbled a kick on the last tackle and the ball fortuitously landed in the hands of a Vikings player. However a short restart kick saw Louis Hubbard come up with possession and the resultant pressure saw the ball shipped to the right for Lee Atkinson go over in the corner too wide out for Steve Jonson to improve. The hosts were feeling the pressure at this stage and handling error close to their own line saw the visitors awarded a scrum and the ball was moved swiftly out for Louis Hubbard to go over beside the posts for Jonson to convert for a 10-6 lead.

The pendulum swung the way of the home side as they added two tries resulting from some slick handling to lead 18-10. The visitors replied in spectacular fashion. Steve Jonson broke from deep inside his own half to draw his man beautifully and send Louis Hubbard over for his second try. Hubbard suffered a late knee in the back in the act of scoring that went unpunished but it reduced the deficit to 18-16 at the interval.

The first twenty minutes of the second half turned into a war of attrition with both sides defending well close to their own lines. The deadlock was finally broken when Steve Jonson and Liam Lane combined well to send Lee Atkinson over for his second try. Beverley looked good value for their 20-18 lead but a string of penalties and a sin binning contributing to them having to defend repeat sets inside their own 20 and the pressure finally told as the hosts added two late tries to claim both league points.

The man of the match award went to Paul Atkinson for his non stop graft in attack and defence proving once again that he is the oldest teenager in town!

This Saturday Beverley are at home to Bilton Sullys- a side which they defeated in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season so they are confident of a first league double this season. Kick off is 2pm at the Leisure Centre.