Beverley ARLFC came close to winning their first away game of the season, only to be pegged back by Wigan St Judes.
As the 40-40 scoreline suggests, attack won the day over the defence in this encounter in Wigan.
Beverley did fantastically well to claw their way back into the game which they trailed 24-10 at one stage in the first half.
Beverley led 40-28 at one stage but Wigan St Judes staged a fightback of their own to snatch a point.
The game was marred by a serious injury to Jack Howdle. He was injured with just 3 minutes of the match remaining and Beverley leading 40-34.
After the match was held up for around 10 minutes both sides made the decision to move the remainder of the game to an adjacent pitch.
Scott Taylor commented;
“We had to take the chance of playing on as an abandonment could have led to the game being replayed. With the scores so close, the last thing we wanted was an extra trip later in the season with a possibly weaker side.”
The early part of the first half demonstrated the step up in standard that Beverley must aspire to if they are to prosper in this higher division.
Wigan St Judes Set The Pace In Their Game With Beverley
Winger Joey Brady added two converted tries to put Wigan 12-0 up. A couple of penalties in succession created the pressure for Jack Howdle to reply. After more pressure from the visitors, the hosts broke away from deep and Gavin Rodden crossed.
When it seemed Beverley were struggling to hold the hosts, Lewis Miller intercepted to race 80 meters to touchdown.
Scott Robinson added another score for the home side before they coughed up possession close to their own line. The resulting set saw Jack Howdle go over for a converted score to reduce the arrears to 24-16.
The restart kick saw Wigan St Judes stray offside. With seconds remaining in the half, Tom Moor’s shot at goal struck the posts.
Beverley went out into the second half with renewed energy. After Ryan Watkin was held up over the line, a line drop-out was forced. The resulting set led to a debut try for Francis Coggle. Moor converted to put bring the score to 24-22.
More attacking from Beverley saw a kick on the last tackle cause some confusion in the St Judes ranks. Joe Morley then regathered to place an intelligent kick ahead for Alex Calvert. He regathered and charge through some desperate last-ditch tackles to score. Moor also made the conversion making it 28-24 in Beverley’s favour.
Beverley ARLFC Played Their Part In See-Saw Encounter
The see-saw nature of the game continued as the home side regained possession from the restart leading to an unconverted score from Josh Hill to level things up at 28-28. Beverley then made some good progress up the field helped by a Jack Howdle run. Bobby Howdle then scampered away to send the supporting Billy Riby over under the posts. Moor again converting to make it 34-28.
More pressure followed with Alex Paddock and also Joe Morley both going close to touching down. Then Beverley’s man of the match, Bobby Howdle scampered away in his own inimitable style from dummy half to score to the high excitement of his teammates.
With a little over 10 minutes remaining, Beverley were unable to close the game down. Connor Parkinson added 2 converted scores either side of the lengthy stoppage for the injury which followed a magnificent take of the ball and mazy run up-field from Billy Riby.
In the after-match speech in the clubhouse, Wigan St Judes concurred that a draw was a fair reflection of the game.
Final Score: Wigan St Judes 40 Beverley ARLFC 40 | Reported by Nick Robinson