This was a game contested by two desperate sides at the Beverley Leisure Centre last Saturday, and a draw in an error strewn encounter was a fair reflection of the game. Early in the game it was a case of if anything can go wrong it will for the hosts.
After only ten minutes their new signing Andy Robinson from Skirlaugh went down in a tackle in pain. Play was then suspended for around twenty minutes as the emergency services were called upon to deal with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
The incident appeared to upset the rhythm of the home side, who appeared to start the brighter of the two sides. The visitors proceeded to score two quick converted tries to help themselves to a 12-0 lead.
Towards the break the hosts managed to get some quality possession and territory aided by a few penalties. Steve Connolly began the fight back with an opportunist try from dummy half after several players had gone close. The conversion sailed wide but Beverley went into the half time break with some optimism.
The blue and golds with their tails up in the second half forced the visitors to spill possession in their own quarter. The resultant pressure saw Craig Hamlet force his way over for Watkin to convert.
However it was typical of the afternoon that they should spill possession direct from the restart kick to immediately put pressure back on themselves. A try soon followed for the visitors but then an incident which proved to be crucial in the final analysis saw the conversion attempt hit the post from directly in front.
As the home side became increasingly anxious, they conceded a penalty for ball stealing which was duly converted to stretch the Lambeth outfits lead to 18-10. Then Lee Stevens who was a tower of strength with his continuous charges all afternoon managed to force his way over for an extremely rare try which Watkin converted to reduce the arrears to 16-18.
The pendulum again swung the visitors way when some poor concentration in defence allowed Lambwath to score a try fortunately too wide out for it to be converted.
Beverley ARLC did still have something left in the tank and Steve Connolly finally scored his second try after the home side were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the visitors. Ryan Watkin coolly slotted over the angled conversion to level the scores at 22-22 with the minutes ticking away.
There was still to be a few heart stopping moments as the visitors managed two attempts at drop goals which thankfully hardly left the ground.
Man of the match was Steve Connolly whose brace of tries tipped the scales but Lee Stevens, Gavin Platt and Ryan Watkin were closely in the running.
Next week Beverley are away to Bilton Sully’s and it goes without saying that a big improvement is required. Kickoff is 2pm at the Bilton Memorial Fields.
Reported By Nick Robinson| Final Score Beverley ARLC 22 Lambwath Lions 22
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