RUGBY UNION : A Disappointing Day For Beverley

Wind, mud, and a day to forget for Beverley. Given the conditions there was never likely to be much finesse on view but Waterloo played by far the better rugby and fully deserved to win. They never stopped trying to play expansively; they kicked better, and they made far better use of the wind. Beverley simply ran out of ideas as one mistake followed another. It was probably by some way their poorest display of the season.

Yet they started well enough. After ten minutes they led 14-0 and looked in total control. They took the lead after only two minutes with a try by James Holland after Alex Ogilvie had made ground through the middle. Eight minutes later Joe Pickets broke away from a penalty lineout, the ball was moved right, and Junior Tupai with a clever delayed pass fed Richard Bussey who split the defence for a second try. Phil Duboulay kicked both conversions and Beverley at that stage looked to be heading for a comfortable victory.

On a quarter of an hour it all started to change. Beverley were penalised for handling in the ruck and as they sauntered back for the penalty Waterloo took a quick tap, went left, and full back James O’Brien found himself with a clear run down the touchline for a try. After that Waterloo got increasingly into the game with some enterprising running while Beverley’s game steadily fell apart. Almost immediately Waterloo nearly got another try when the impressive O’Brien sprinted clear down the right and touched down only to be brought back for a foot in touch.

`Beverley led by only nine points at 14-5 as the half petered out and they faced the prospect of playing into the strong wind in the second half. Clearly they badly needed to get themselves together after the interval if they were to hang on to the lead. Sadly the second half was only five minutes old when they lost Duboulay with concussion after a dangerous tackle, for which the culprit was lucky to get away with only a yellow card.
The loss of their talismatic fly half was a key loss for Beverley and something of a turning point although in truth their game by then had already disintegrated. Both packs laboured bravely in the mud with Beverley’s eight having a slight edge. Tonci Buzov, Pickets, and Ogilvie all carried impressively but behind the scrum Beverley’s play was largely a shambles. At no stage did the back division ever look like a cohesive unit. The enforced use of Holland at centre greatly reduced his effectiveness and the potentially dangerous Lee Birch at full back hardly got a look-in. While Waterloo made ground by moving the ball quickly wide Beverley persisted in going back inside and ploughing through the mud.

Sloppy passing eventually gave Waterloo a simple interception and substitute left wing Dan King cruised over for an easy try which was converted by Liam Reeve. Only two points in it at 14-12 and Beverley were looking more and more like a team holding on. They did exert enough pressure to have brought them several more scores of their own, but chance after chance went begging through careless passing or knock-ons two metres out. Not for the first time this season when they had an attacking line-out on their opponents line the ball was thrown clean over the top.

Quite what was going on with Beverley’s defence down their right was a mystery. All four Waterloo tries came from this channel. Whenever Waterloo went left there were acres of space and in the final five minutes King was allowed two more easy run-ins, firstly to put Waterloo in front and then to wrap the game up. After their recent good form it was a disappointing result for Beverley but hopefully it was just one of those days and they will no doubt look to get back on track at Westoe next week.

Final Score : Beverley RUFC 14  Firwood Waterloo 22 | Reported by John Nursey