Beverley ARLFC gave themselves a huge lift with this very hard-earned victory in Dewsbury and ended a 6 game-losing streak.
It has been a difficult 8 days for the club and they have managed to salvage something in adversity.
Beverley were beaten 20-10 by Barrow Island in a match that was always going to be a tough ask going to Cumbria against a promotion-chasing outfit towards the end of what has been a difficult campaign.
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.
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 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.
A youthful Beverley outfit took to the field in this encounter and came up short but must take some credit for their efforts.
A bulky more experienced Hunslet outfit clearly was on top in this opening fixture but a number of factors hampered the visitors.
This was another very encouraging performance by the Blue and Golds as they signed off their pre-season preparations for 2022 with a narrow defeat.
Trevor Penrose commented; “We need not be downhearted about that one, we went toe to toe with one of the promotion favourites from division one and nearly pinched it at the death.”
The tough schedule of matches took its toll on the Blue and Golds as they were beaten 50-0 by West Hull.
A depleted Beverley outfit, backing up from Thursday evening’s outing at Hull Dockers, simply had to do too much defending. A full-strength West Hull outfit took full advantage to hit the half-century mark.
This will rank as Beverley’s most disappointing performance of the 4 league fixtures played thus far.
A Heworth outfit hellbent on ambition to be York’s leading amateur rugby league team dominated possession and territory throughout. Beverley struggled to take what few opportunities they did have in attack.
The Blue and Golds blew away a huge amount of dust and cobwebs in this first outing in over a year across in Leeds.
Played behind closed doors under strict Covid protocols, the match was hugely encouraging for the visitors.
The Blue and Golds came up short in this rain-sodden encounter in Wigan against one of the fancied sides for promotion.
Beverley will perhaps take heart from the fact they were not at their best but were only defeated by 4 points in a game which both sides posted 3 tries apiece.