Bulls Knock Braves Out of Cup

Beverley Braves under-13s lived up to their name despite going down to a 38-8 defeat of Skirlaugh Bulls in their cup semi-final clash.

It was a daunting task for the Braves against such talented opposition, but led by man-of-the-match Owen Harrison they certainly did themselves proud.

Within minutes of the start, the Bulls caught Beverley totally off guard to score their first try. Spectators must have thought this was how the game was going to pan out –  but the Braves had other ideas.

From the kick-off Dylan Clifford made an awesome tackle, followed by Kurt Pelham, who went in just as hard. Owen Harrison followed with the same intensity and Skirlaugh’s momentum was halted as they knocked on.

Beverley now knew they had the ability to rattle the opposition and with Jay Black releasing some superb passes, Beverley’s players were able to run on to the ball at speed.

Pelham was relentless in his tackling, knocking the Bulls’ attackers down time and time again.

When Skirlaugh broke free James McGahey reached out and toe tapped the player to stop yards being gained up the pitch.

Conor Egan took a ball well under pressure and Harvey Lazenby kicked the ball up the pitch to the corner with such precision it forced the Bulls on to their own line.

This resulted in some lovely passing moves along the line through the hands of McGahey and Black to release Joe Wardill, who saw seized his opportunity to level the scores.

Callum Officer was superb in the middle with runs so hard that they always broke through the first tackle, backed up by the powerful tackling of Jamie Branton.

From nowhere, the Bulls broke through a gap and scored under the sticks, although this again provoked a Braves’ fightback.

Harrison put in an excellent kick to put the pressure back on the Bulls and more passing moves saw Clifford drive low and hard to escape the clutches of the Bulls’ defence and power over to score to make it 8 – 10 at half time.

The tough tackling continued from the whistle and Beverley were still putting in massive runs and even bigger tackles, not least from Harry Bulleyment who had a great game.

The game then turned as Wardill sped up the wing and was halted just short of the line, but he got injured in the process and had to be taken off the pitch.

Skirlaugh saw their chance and before Beverley had time to reorganise the team had scored under the posts.

Beverley continued to tackle and never gave up, but Skirlaugh now knew they had the upper hand and ran hard and fast to score again.

Callam Bielby continued tackling his heart out but a late tackle on Black saw him taken off injured and Beverley lost their shape, despite Tony Usher and Joshua Drew coming to the fore.

Skirlaugh dominated the last few minutes and tries were there for taking, although Beverley can be proud of their tremendous efforts in defeat.
Man of the match deserved to Owen Harrison, with top tackler Dylan Clifford.