Blue & Gold Defeat A Hard One To Take Says Coach

The Blue and Golds will see this as another missed opportunity to pull away from the relegation zone. Having fallen 12-0 behind after only

10 minutes, they responded fantastically with 4 well-worked tries to lead 18-12 at the break. The second half proved to be a disappointment as they had to do far too much defending and struggled to create chances in attack.

Reflecting upon another narrow defeat, Sam French commented;

“The loss is very tough on to take but our response after that first ten minutes was outstanding to claw our way back and take the lead. We just didn’t reach those levels in the second half and didn’t have enough of the ball in good areas which is something we must look at as a group. Again we must dust ourselves off, re-group and fix things up for the rest of the season.”

In a whirlwind start, the visitors were 12-0 up inside 10 minutes. Jacob Beety and Aiden Ineson crossed, both converted by Ineson.

Following the visitor’s second try a clever restart kick saw Lewis Miller regain possession for the home side. A few plays later, quick hands to the right saw Beau English cross in the corner. The extras could not be added but arrears were reduced to 4-12.

The hosts, then with a good kick downfield by Lewis Poskitt penned Moor in their own 20-meter zone with some strong defence. It forced the handling error, then direct from a scrum the ball was moved swiftly to the left for Lewis Miller to cross. The score was not converted but Beverley were chipping away at the lead which was now 8-12 after 16 minutes.

More was to follow in the 25th minute as Lewis Poskitt’s outrageous dummy saw him sprint to the corner and touch down. Josh Poskitt’s difficult conversion was only narrowly the wrong side of the posts but the 2 sides were on level terms at 12-12.

Beverley, now playing their best rugby, took the lead in the 28th minute. A crisp handling movement with Jack Howdle heavily influential saw Ryan Watkin cross. Josh Poskitt converted for 18-12 lead. It remained so until the break.

 The visitors piled on the pressure in the early stages of the second half. Things got a little fractious at times which reflected the importance of the fixture. The 52nd minute saw a cross-field kick by the visitors which was allowed to bounce awkwardly and Finley Bruce touched down. Ineson added the conversion to level the scores at 18-18.

Midway through the second half there was a failed drop-goal attempt by the visitors. It seemed that they would try one again in the 63rd minute with Beverley on the lookout to charge the attempt. However, Aiden Inneson managed to ghost his way over to score past some flat-footed defence. Ineson converted his own try.

 The 70th minute did see a break from deep by Josh Poskitt with a pass to  Lewis Miller in support but the danger was snuffed out. It proved to be one of few second-half chances for the home side.

Beverley’s man of the match award went to Bobby Howdle with another energetic display. The defeat did prove costly also in terms of injuries to Billy Riby (shoulder), Josh Poskitt(ankle) and Joe Vaudin(knee), all of which look like being lengthy.