Beverley ARLFC got back to winning ways as they saw off Clock Face Miners 23-20 at the Beverley Leisure Centre.
This was a heated yet highly entertaining clash in the rain in what was an incident-packed match.
Conditions dictated the kind of game that was going to take place and the difference between the two sides boiled down to goal-kicking.
Stand-in goal-kicker Jordan Precious landed 7 goals from 8 attempts which were crucial insofar that Clock Face scored 3 tries to Beverley’s 2.
Clock Face were penalised for high tackles on numerous occasions and Beverley elected to go for goal whenever they were within a reasonable range.
Also, the odds seemed stacked against the hosts when Billy Riby was sin-binned following protestations after Clock Face levelled the scores with a converted try on 70 minutes.
In his summing up in dressing rooms Scott Taylor simply said it was a top win for his side.
A Jordan Precious penalty after 5 minutes put Beverley 2-0 up. There soon followed a Lewis Poskitt 40/20 putting Beverley on the offensive. This was well defended by the visitors and finished with the ball rolling over the dead ball line from a kick.
The penalty was cancelled out by Shaun Costello’s own penalty after 15 minutes. After 20 minutes a fracas occurred resulting in both Steve Connolly and Andy Stanton from either side being sin-binned.
The 28th minute did then see Lewis Poskitt’s kick ahead fumbled by a visiting defender. Sam Brown pounced and score wide out. Precious converted.
Beverley Dig Deep Scoring Late To Secure The Win
Precious also added a further 2 penalties towards the end of the half which saw Beverley create one more chance. Bobby Howdle sent a blind side pass to Alex Starling who kicked ahead but could not make any more of the opportunity despite support from Sam Brown. The score remaining a 12-2 at the break.
Lewis Gerraghty crossed for Clock Face following a ball steal five minutes in the second half converted by Costello. Beverley anticipated a penalty but should have played to the whistle.
Soon after a Clock Face 40/20 put them on the attack and Luke Forber crossed converted by Costello for a 14-12 lead to the Merseysiders.
After 52 minutes, Precious again landed a penalty to level the scores at 14-14. Then yet another high tackle saw the referee lose patience and sin-bin Jordan Eccleston of Clock Face.
A flowing attack then saw Ben Atkin, who for the second week running had a sterling game. He put Lewis Miller away who again was taken out high. Precious nudged Beverley 16-14 ahead with the penalty.
Beverley looked to gather momentum when Bobby Howdle sneaked over from dummy half for a try. This, however, was not converted but the visitors refused to lie down.
The 70th minute saw Beverley lose the ball from a Clock Face kick on the last tackle and Luke Forber pounced to score despite strong protests from Beverley that there was a knock-on in the movement.
This led to a sin-binning for Riby with Costello levelling the scores at 20-20.
A man down for the final 10 minutes, Beverley managed to dig deep. A Lewis Poskitt drop-goal and another Jordan Precious penalty saw them edge home quite literally with a wet sail.
