The Blue and Golds returned to full pre-season training last Saturday morning behind the Potting Shed.
New Head Coach Stuart Fielden took charge of his first session and there was an encouraging turn-out of players both old and new, on a soggy January morning.
The Blue and Golds have concluded their season with an awards night. The event was held at the Sloop Inn where players were recognised for their individual achievements.
While at the event the squad was also introduced to their new head coach Stuart Fielden.
The Blue and Golds were in this contest for 50 minutes but sadly faded in the final 30 minutes of the game which was once again played in very hot conditions.
Now sitting 7 points adrift of Wigan St Judes in the table, only the unlikely event of them winning all of their last 4 games and St Jude’s losing their remaining 2 can save them from the drop to division 3 now.
The Blue and Golds came up short in this tense struggle in Bradford on Saturday. Traffic congestion on the final few junctions of the M62 before the Bradford turn-off caused them to arrive with a very limited preparation time.
The story of the afternoon was the home side holding possession long enough and getting enough repeat sets to deny Beverley any real sustained pressure on their line.
Blue and Golds coach Sam French described his team’s 60-4 loss at Clock Face Miners as very disappointing.
Always speaking in defence of his players, Sam French commented how it was a very disappointing day, adding that his side is busted at the moment and also missing over 15 players.
The Blue and Golds slipped to a disappointing defeat last Saturday on a very warm afternoon at the Leisure Center.
They led for most of the first half but four tries, two of which were on either side of the interval sealed the points for one of the automatic promotion favourites.
The Blue and Golds breathed hope into their season and threw themselves a lifeline in the NCL Division 2 relegation battle with a 22-20 win over Wigan St Judes.
On a very warm afternoon, a somewhat patched-up lineup, as has been so often the case in an injury-ravaged campaign, looked to be going down tamely to defeat.
The relegation battle resumes this Saturday for the Blue and Golds when Wigan St Judes are the visitors to The Potting Shed for a 2.30pm kick-off.
For both sides, the stakes are high for these two close rivals, with Beverley occupying 11th place on 6 points as against the visitors 9th place on 9 points.
The Blue and Golds made this short West Yorkshire trip more in hope than expectation, with an injury list too long to mention.
Beverley had to dig deep into their playing staff and handed NCL debuts to Will Turnbull, Joe Dobson, Sam Beardshaw and Macca Cromack. It turned out to be a brave effort against a far bulkier and more experienced home outfit.
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.
The Blue and Golds will rue missing their chance to pull away from the relegation zone in this scrappy but entertaining clash in Wigan.
In a game which was not allowed to flow the visitors conceded too many penalties, committed too many handling errors and simply had to do too much defending.
The Blue and Golds earned 2 points which will prove invaluable in a very tight relegation scrap in which the bottom 5 sides in division 2 now all sit on 6 points.
On a warm afternoon at the Potting Shed, the home side overcame a far bulkier Bradford outfit who clearly came with the intent of using that bulk to steamroller their opponents.
The Blue and Golds got their first league points of the season in a tense war of attrition at the Leisure Centre.
The home side dominated possession and territory in the second half with the visitors rarely getting out of their own half. It was a case of Dewsbury Celtic being unable to hang on to a 12-4 lead forever when having to defend so many repeat sets.
This was another tough day at the office for the Blue and Golds, with positives again being drawn by the effort and enthusiasm that is being shown by the young squad.
It was a similar story to previous weeks, where Beverley looked to be building momentum but turned over possession at vital stages and the opposition took advantage. Sam French’s message to the players was again ”We need to play smarter”.
There was no shortage of effort skill and energy in this Beverley performance but it is fair to say that they were out out-muscled by a bulkier pack.
The visitors were again prepared to throw the ball around but it did often result in them turning the ball over early in the tackle count. As a result, Beverley had to defend far too many sets, especially close to their own line which was energy sapping.
This defeat will be a ‘difficult one to swallow’ in the words of the coaching staff.
The Blue and Golds, leading 15-2 at the interval, having played some entertaining rugby in the process, shipped 4 tries in the early part of the second half to undo the good work.
The Blue and Golds will be looking to get off the mark this Saturday when Normanton Knights are the visitors to the Beverley Leisure Centre for a 2.30pm kick-off.
Their opponents from the West Riding town opened up their campaign with 22-10 victory at home to Wigan St Judes.