The Beverley Braves knew there were up against tougher opposition this week in the form of old rivals Hull Dockers and the home side started on the attack.
The Braves picked up where they left off the last game though and put immense pressure on Dockers and forced a hand over as Harry Gray’s persistence did not give the side chance to kick or do anything.
This gave Beverley the ball in an excellent position and their first attacking move saw their signature passing along the line involving so many of the team to find Joe Wardill, who found the gap and powered over the line to open the scoring. With a similar start from their last few matches the Braves thought they had it in the bag but the opposition had a very different idea.
Dockers pushed hard and went in, in numbers pushing the Braves onto their line and in a desperate bid to keep them out. James McGahey saved a certain try with a magnificent tackle near the line. Kurt Pelham made a string of ace tackles from marker to keep the home side at bay. The defence held tight and after quashing an onslaught of runs from Dockers it was their turn to build the momentum. Gray and Harry Bell had a good attacking run up the wing using each other well but the Dockers defence held strong when called upon to do so.
The game was evenly matched but mistakes were made by both sides and it was up to the stronger team to capitalise on the gaps that were made. Callum Officer ran so well with the ball, breaking tackles and in turn made some fantastic defensive hits before going off with a mouth injury. His presence was missed in the middle. Conor Egan again made some vital tackles never loosing grip of the attacking runner.
Beverley continued to put themselves under pressure on their own line though and it was evident that everything was not going their way. Even when they had attacking spells they could not capitalise and put points on the board as they struggled to break the Dockers defence and the game stopped at half time with the score 0 – 6 with Beverley still having a lot to do.
The Braves had to up their game and they had to do it quickly. McGahey ran strong, side stepping superbly to give Beverley possession near the line but even the explosive runs of Dylan Clifford, although gaining valuable yards, could not break the Docker’s ranks. Danny Dawson came on from sub and made some impressive runs and tackled hard but Dockers hit back just as powerful and this is where Beverley had to dig deep.
It finally paid off when they passed the ball along the line and the anticipation could be felt on the side line as the move built and reached Owen Harrison who found the gap and cleverly forced his way through and firmly planted the ball over the white wash.
The score 0 -10 and Beverley were still jubilant when Dockers seized the moment and scored edging the game within their grasp again.
Beverley responded back though as strong running in the middle gave them valuable yards and Jamie Branton was outstanding when it was needed most today, in attack and defence.
Beverley had a couple of penalties awarded and quick thinking from the head coach, Chris, on the side line, he instructed the boys to go for the two points and Harrison kicked brilliantly under pressure to make an 8 point margin. This was to prove a vital decision.
Dockers fought back and almost scored on the left wing only stopped by excellent low tackles from Tom Woods and Gray saving a certain try. They were successful a couple of minutes later though as Dockers scored to make the margin only 2 points but time was up, the game finishing 10 -12 to Beverley. The
