It was a quiet start for the young Beverley lads as they faced up to a top of the league opposition. Tackles were hard and tough from both sides, and a break from Joe Wardill up the field gave the valuable yards that were needed to start a fantastic attacking move from Beverley. This culminated in Dylan Clifford getting his head down and running so hard at the line no one could stop him.
He pounced over under the posts to give Beverley just what they needed against a now stunned Skirlaugh side. The Bulls came charging back and some great tackling from the Braves held them not least from Harry Bulleyment who had another immense game. Beverley got sucked into the middle to contain the onslaught and on the last tackle Skirlaugh flung the ball at wide to go over the line unchallenged and bring the game back to 6 -4.
The Braves knew they could come back though and tackles went in low and hard. Owen Harrison wrapped up their speedy winger with ease and Jamie Branton’s work rate throughout the match was outstanding yet again. Conor Egan performed some text book tackles stopping some big players and Harry Gray is so tough both in attack and defence.
Harvey Lazenby made some good kicks up field to force the Bulls in their half. Mighty hits forced errors from the Bulls but Beverley need to capitalise on this by completing their own sets of six without error. Skirlaugh made the most of these errors and broke free to edge them back into the lead with two more tries.
Beverley continued their fight and an outstanding tackle from Callam Bielby forced Skirlaugh to knock on. The resulting play saw Jay Black release yet another pin point pass to Wardill who was running from deep at speed and could not be stopped by the defence. Half time whistle blew 12 – 14 and a game that was still very much wide open.
Beverley was up hill the second half but straight away a knock on from the Bulls gave possession to Beverley. James McGahey was ready for the challenge and threw a stunning dummy to open up the defence allowing him to force his way over the white wash and nudge Beverley into the lead. Skirlaugh answered this though with their own try to level it once again and you could see the reserves of the Braves running low as they were giving so much. Harrison never stops battling and puts in some massive tackles for a young lad.
The visitors then turned it up a gear as Charlie Weaver started to steal the show and ran another few tries past tired players. He is the difference between the two teams and sadly the lead started to increase. Special mention to Kurt Pelham who was outstanding in the middle once again despite picking up numerous knocks and hard running from Callum Officer who is relentless in his tackles and drives forwards. Will Dodds came off the bench to do a good tackle on the wing but the whistle went with a score of 18 – 48.
All players should be very proud of the way they played today. Callam Bielby picked up a much deserved man of the match with Jamie Branton another top tackler to add to his collection.
Final Score: Beverley Braves 18 v Skirlaugh Bulls 48
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