Some exciting rugby but not a lot of quality in a game where the win might have gone either way. In the end it was more woe for Beverley RUFC at Beaver Park.
They not only lost a match they would have hoped to win but they suffered yet more injuries to senior players. With little experienced backup to call on the situation now looks ominous, particularly with a trip to league leaders Chester looming up next week.
Until they lost David Worrall and Matty Adams on half an hour Beverley RUFC had had the edge but after they departed Lymm increasingly looked the more likely winners. To some extent Beverley RUFC only had themselves to blame. They created enough clear-cut chances to win the game comfortably but time and again the final pass went astray when a score looked certain.
After an even opening in which Joe Knowles was narrowly wide with a penalty attempt for Lymm Beverley RUFC took the lead on quarter of an hour. A half break by Junior Tupai led to Phil Duboulay sprinting to the posts from thirty metres out for a try which he converted himself. After the loss of Worrall and Adams Beverley RUFC were never quite the same again and the forward play became very disjointed although there was never any lack of effort.
Both sides looked stronger in the backs than up front and if delivery from the scrum been quicker the Beverley RUFC midfield might have had a profitable afternoon. Duboulay at stand-off was outstanding and Tupai and Goran Jelencic in the centre always looked dangerous but too often they found ball and tackler arriving simultaneously. Lymm increasingly dominated play as the half wore on. Two penalties by Knowles brought them to within a point at 7-6 and on the stroke of halftime they almost took the lead with a well executed try only to be penalised for crossing.
Within three minutes of the start of the second half Lymm did edge ahead with a try by prop Nick Ashton. 11-7 down Beverley RUFC had several clear-cut chances to recapture the lead but squandered them all, once even losing the ball after crossing the line. Eventually Jelencic, James Graham and the impressive Mike Bradshaw combined to send Duboulay in under the posts for a second converted try. It was somewhat against the run of play but it was probably the best try of the day and it gave them a three point advantage. Another score and Beverley RUFC might have clinched it.
But having gone behind Lymm raised their game. Their backs always looked dangerous although it was probably their domination up front that ultimately proved the difference between the sides. Beverley RUFC fought hard to hang on to their lead but it was a struggle. With quarter of an hour remaining a drive to the line from a penalty lineout in the corner brought a converted try for flanker Jake Ashall to put Lymm 18-14 up. Any hopes Beverley RUFC might have had of coming back again were dashed within two minutes. Their lineout had once again been suspect all afternoon and when they lost possession on their own throw deep in the visitors’ half Lymm burst clear for Knowles to race away and touch down under the posts and settle it with a final converted try.
There was no way back for Beverley RUFC. In the dying minutes they might have got a try and a bonus point when Tupai took an interception and sprinted fifty metres into the Lymm 22 but his scoring pass inside to Graham did not go to hand. It just about summed up Beverley RUFC’s day. Almost every week so far this season their team-sheet has had something of a make-shift look about it. Having young inexperienced players in the team does not help and Beverley RUFC desperately need to be able to start fielding a settled side with all their senior players in it.
Bevelrey RUFC 14 Lymm 25 | Reported by John Nursey
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