Depleted Beverley Braves Almost Tame The Tigers

Depleted Beverley Braves Almost Tame The Tigers

With nine of the Beverley Braves either injured or unavailable and with many of the remaining 13 players playing out of position this was always going to be a testing encounter for the Braves under 14s against Cottingham Tigers, the only side who have beaten them so far this season.

The match started in the worst possible way for Beverley with Cottingham capitalising on an error to build up pressure and score to make it 0-6 after just two minutes. The Braves were their own worst enemies making several mistakes whilst playing up the slope and against the stiff breeze. This resulted in a lot of defensive work to do, the sort of stuff Olly Loney loves and it was from this early point in the game he began amassing an impressive tally in the tackle count. The pressure was bound to take its toll and eventually Cottingham scored again after a kick through, the conversion making it 0-12.

With the game seeming to be slipping away Henry Hughes’ kick off was fumbled and from the resulting field position William Wallis was able to crash over from acting half back to continue his incredible record of scoring in every game he has played this year. coolly stroked over the conversion and it was 6-12.

Minutes later Wallis was storming down the right hand side allowing Hughes the time and position to put over the supporting Wallis on the next tackle, Turner’s kick hit the post but it was game on at 10-12. However the Braves went back to their original way of playing with a knock on from the kick off again gifting field position and Cottingham needed no further invitation to score and make it 10-18, which became 10-24 soon afterwards.

The Braves then suffered a major blow, captain and scrum half Lewis Egan taking a knock and having to retire meaning the team had not only lost one of its main play makers and tacklers but also was down to 12. Beverley continued up field and a strong drive from Loney earned a penalty from a foul tackle in front of the sticks – with just seconds left on the referee’s watch Turner put the ball between the sticks for a 12-24 score line.

Half-time allowed for a little more rearranging and the Braves, despite being a man down, came out with renewed vigour. George Bennett Teare leading from the front once again with some strong running, supported by new boys to the team Harry Griffin and Callum Leak.

Turner switched to scrum half from where he did a great job as did Ryan Deane filling in at hooker, putting in a decent amount of tackles but making valuable yards from acting half back. Ten minutes into the second half and on the back of this go forward Wallis made a break down the left and when it looked certain he would be held up he managed to slip the ball to the supporting Hughes to score – 16-24. Beverley now sensed they could do something special in this game and they started working hard for each other.

Josh Pearson put in some strong defence to prevent a Cottingham score whist Oliver Gresswell worked tirelessly in the tackle and took the ball up well however it was full back William Kirkup who best typified the team spirit with four consecutive tackles at one point.

With just over ten minutes to go there was another blow as Griffin had to leave the field after a bang to the head, leaving the Braves playing just 11 against 13.
The Beverley lads had nothing to lose and they continued to attack with Hughes creating the opportunity for Thomas Cohen to crash through several defenders to score his third try in two games. 20-24 and the Braves sensed victory, however Cottingham did not read the script and a break through the middle looked all on a try until out of nowhere up popped Kirkup to make the try saving tackle.

The referee felt it was a little high and awarded the penalty which was duly converted to make the final score 20-26. A great fighting performance from Beverley which for the want of a couple more bodies could have been a victory. Wallis, Kirkup, Loney and Hughes were all recognised as men of the match.

Final Score: Beverley Braves 20 Cottingham Tigers 24



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