A thrilling match and a terrific second half. At halftime Beverley RUFC were down and out. They trailed 17-5; their influential fly half was on his way to hospital with a suspected broken leg, and a red card had reduced them to fourteen. They were in total disarray and defeat looked inevitable. But a superb second half effort turned it all round and Beverley RUFC eventually emerged with a win and the five points they desperately wanted.
They had started the game well and taken the lead after five minutes. Phil Duboulay made a scything break in midfield and took play up to the Waterloo line where the ball was quickly moved out to Fraley Hopa who touched down in the corner. Both sides possessed a lively back division but Beverley RUFC probably had the greater incisiveness and increasingly looked likely to add to their lead. Duboulay was cutting through in midfield with relative ease and after a lovely break by Sam Atiola Chris Infield was hauled down only a couple of metres short of the line.
Then on twenty minutes it all changed. Duboulay went down in a heavy tackle and was carried from the field. Almost immediately Beverley RUFC from being on top started to fall apart. Straight from the re-start they lost possession and Waterloo scrum half Tom Holloway crossed for a try which fly half Liam Reeve converted to put the visitors 7-5 in the lead. Beverley RUFC handling errors became frequent and ill discipline inevitably started to creep in. Twice they were marched back ten metres for backchat and when a Beverley RUFC scrum was reversed for arguing they were lucky to get away with Reeve’s penalty kick rebounding from the bar.
As Beverley RUFC’s game deteriorated so Waterloo’s momentum increased. Pressure was now nearly all coming from the visitors and it was no surprise when they added to their lead with a converted try from centre Andrew Trotter. On the stroke of halftime it got worse. A Beverley RUFC yellow card for lying on the ball was turned into a red one after a few choice words had been directed at the referee. Reeve thumped the penalty over and Waterloo turned round 17-5 up.
How Beverley RUFC coach Anthony Posa addressed his side at halftime probably does not bear thinking about. Whatever he said Beverley RUFC’s fourteen men were galvanised into a tremendous second half recovery. They immediately took the game to their opponents and Waterloo could hardly get a look-in. The Beverley RUFC pack to a man were simply superb, repeatedly driving their opponents back and invariably quicker to the breakdown. In the line-out Hopa was a particularly commanding presence and Jon Stephenson had another outstanding game at number eight. A catch-and-drive from line-outs twice brought tries for Gavin Gibson. Junior Tupai kicked a fine conversion from the touchline to level the scores at 17-17 and Beverley RUFC within a quarter of an hour were back in business.
Moreover they were now well on top with Tupai in the centre pulling the all the strings. But they found themselves further depleted when Hopa was yellow carded for entering a ruck from the side and Reeve slotted the penalty to restore the Waterloo lead. Beverley RUFC threw everything into a storming last quarter. Their reward came when Goran Jelencic burst away down the left and set up a maul leading to Infield putting Richard Bussey in for a winning try which Tupai converted. Waterloo by no means rolled over and Beverley RUFC needed to keep their wits about them to prevent the lively visiting backs from breaking out and snatching a late victory.
In the end it was a tremendous win for Beverley RUFC. Perhaps not the least satisfying aspect of the afternoon was seeing Craig Hancock in action again after a devastating injury and further setbacks had put his playing future in jeopardy. Fair minded and good clubmen such as Hancock are what clubs like Beverley RUFC can ill afford to do without.
Final Score: Beverley RUFC 24 Waterloo 20 | Reported by John Nursey
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Did Stanley score? Forward roll to finish if he did