Beverley Just Fail In Second Half Comeback

At halftime this match looked as good as all over. By the end it had become a hard-fought rousing contest. Despite wet conditions underfoot and a near gale both sides played with bags of adventure producing an afternoon of nine tries and plenty of excitement. At halftime Beverley looked to be down and out. They had had a pretty miserable time of it, with one error following another and were already twenty six points behind. It looked a hopeless cause against a well balanced side playing with no little skill. But it all changed in the second half when Beverley were revitalised and played some of their best rugby of the season. They ended within one converted try of winning and had it gone on for another five minutes they might well have got it.

Beverley started brightly but when the first of many loose passes landed in no-mans land Sale immediately took control. They hacked ahead and from a resulting scrum in the Beverley corner the ball was moved quickly right for Matt Simpson to run in an easy try which Liam McGovern converted. Sale then went 14-0 up when flanker Greg Jacob burst through the middle and put centre Richard Coskie in for a second converted try.

Beverley could make little impact and Sale were finding plenty of openings. Another wild Beverley pass led to a third home try by wing John O’Donnell and when McGovern chipped through the Beverley back line there was no-one at home and centre Chris Mayor had a simple touchdown. 26-0 and in half an hour Sale had already secured a four try bonus point. It looked all over for Beverley.

When the teams re-emerged for the second half what further devastation might lay in store for Beverley could only be guessed at. But the visiting supporters, who had stood on the touchline enduring a bitterly cold and grim first half, were in for a surprise. Sale looked no less assured than they had in the opening half but they now found themselves up against a revitalised Beverley who almost totally dominated the second period. Sale were in something of a comfort zone with their twenty six point lead but Beverley steadily ate into it.

After ten minutes Joe Pickets burst away from a scrum on the home ten metre line and shrugged off several tackles to touch down under the posts. A quickly taken tap penalty by James Holland took play into the corner from where the ball was moved across the backline to centre James Lowe who powered over for a second. It was nearly all Beverley now and a losing bonus point at least looked a distinct possibility. Sadly an ill advised attempted kick down the touchline inevitably blew direct into touch putting Beverley under pressure. Following the lineout on the Beverley 22 O’Donnell touched down unopposed in the corner to enable Sale to stretch away again to 31-14.

But Beverley were not done. Phil Duboulay with a lovely solo run through the home defence touched down under the posts for a third converted try. Ten points in it at 31-21 Beverley went flat out. Sale still looked dangerous but it was Beverley who now looked the more likely scorers. Tom Steadman from full back counter-attacked with a mazy fifty metre run, Holland several times broke free, Tomasi Tanumi always posed a threat down the right and Junior Tupai and Richard Bussey made impressive breaks. Despite enforced changes the pack all afternoon had never really been outplayed and they drove forward relentlessly.

With time ticking away Beverley at last got the score they wanted. Wave after wave of attacks bore down on the home defence until with the last action of the game Lowe again muscled his way over for a fourth try to secure two well deserved bonus points. Duboulay was successful with three of his four conversions. It was just a pity their first half had not been like their second.

Final Score: Sale 31 Beverley RUFC 26 | Reported John Nursey