A depleted Beverley Braves team saw a draw against top side Skirlaugh at home in the Yorkshire cup. With players out with injuries, the boys on the pitch really had to work hard and the first half they did just that showing they were definitely up for the challenge.
Owen Harrison’s halted the first onslaught by stopping the Bulls like a brick wall with a strong low tackle. Kurt Pelham then stopped another Skirlaugh passing move with a fantastic interception. The play continued at a fast pace and Skirlaugh broke through a gap to go over only to have the try disallowed as his foot went over the line. The visiting team kept the pressure on but some hard tackling from Harry Gray kept them at bay.
The Braves defence were fearless but Skirlaugh broke free to open the scoring.
Beverley, though responded in the best way possible, as some sustained pressure found Dylan Clifford who twisted and turned through the Skirlaugh players to place the ball down for a magnificent try and boost the confidence of the Beverley side no end and level the score.
Game on. Harvey Lazenby made some pin point passes to release fast running players to maintain pressure and Pelham’s tackles were awesome time and time again. A boot up the field saw Conor Egan chase the ball up the wing and his persistence paid off as he forced an error to keep the pressure on, in what had become a very even match. The score reflected this as when the half time whistle blew it was 6 – 6.
Their was definitely a chance for Beverley this match but a few fifty-fifty decisions did not go Beverley’s way at the start of the second half and Skirlaugh got a couple of tries to edge the game away from the home side. Beverley did not give up though and dug deep and had some chances of their own. James Sherwin broke free up the wing to show just how fast he is from a standing start and this is a great asset to the team. The passion of the Braves could not be faulted.
Tow Wood from sub made some stunning tackles and his game is improving week on week. Despite this, Skirlaugh’s strength in depth was the difference once again but everyone came off having given their all and the final score was 6 – 24. Man of the match for an outstanding game was Dylan Clifford.
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