This was a day best forgotten. Beverley RUFC were totally outplayed from start to finish and produced as abject a performance as they have given for a long time. It is difficult to comprehend how a side capable of playing such thrilling rugby as we have often seen this season can lapse into the sort of mediocrity we saw here. Yet in the end it was probably not the defeat itself which gave the most cause for concern but the manner in which heads dropped and the side in general succumbed to an attitude of resignation.
For half the game Beverley RUFC could hardly get their hands on the ball. Penrith retained possession cleverly, ran at speed, and moved the ball about quickly with great support play. Beverley RUFC could do none of these things. Only about twice in the first half hour did they get out of their own half and both times fortuitously came away with points. Two well struck penalties by Jamie Gill gave them an unlikely 6-0 lead which they never at any time looked like retaining. With all Penrith’s pressure it was only a matter of time before their lively backs broke through. It came after half an hour when centre Matt Hawley rounded off a smart break by fly half Steve Wood to cross for a first try which Wood converted. Gill nearly regained the lead for Beverley RUFC but his penalty kick unluckily rebounded off the post in the crosswind. Wood was then more successful with a simpler kick at the other end and Penrith turned round 10-6 ahead.
Despite their poor showing in the first half Beverley RUFC were only four points adrift and all was not lost if they could significantly raise their game in the second half. Sadly in less than a minute they were a further seven points behind. Direct from the restart the ball was aimlessly kicked straight back downfield to the Penrith backline which merely swept up to the Beverley RUFC line for a simple converted try by Mike Stephens. It was the beginning of the end. Ten minutes later any optimism Beverley RUFC might still have had completely vanished when a rare attack into the home 22 collapsed and Penrith broke away for another converted try by James Sanderson.
Beverley RUFC were seeing a bit more of the ball in the second period but their movement was slow and laboured and they never looked like scoring a try. Nor, to be brutally honest, did they sometimes look all that bothered. Their lineout work was patchy and the kicking out of hand was mostly pretty dire all afternoon. Penrith in contrast kicked intelligently and time after time the ball was bounced into touch deep in Beverley RUFC territory. Beverley RUFC for their part could hardly ever find touch and Penrith were constantly able to counter attack to good effect.
Wood made the most of another poor Beverley RUFC clearance kick to romp through for a converted try as Beverley RUFC’s resistance steadily disintegrated. Beverley RUFC might still have had a late try but Chris Harding with a three man overlap outside him dithered before eventually passing straight into the hands of Wood who gratefully raced away unopposed for seventy metres for yet another converted Penrith try. Beverley RUFC’s game increasingly fell apart and at 36-6 it was merely a question of how many more points Penrith would score. Ten minutes from time Beverley RUFC tried to run out of defence but Penrith somehow ended up with the ball and ran in a final try by Gary Hodgson which Wood converted.
It was hard to see any single positive that Beverley RUFC could take from this game; they were certainly given a sharp lesson in almost every aspect of constructive rugby. With more performances like this relegation will be staring them in the face. Their one consolation perhaps is the knowledge that after today things can only get better.
Final Score: Penrith 43 Beverley RUFC 6
Reported by John Nursey
