The blue and golds got the win last Saturday which will hopefully now kick start their season. The first half was an evenly contested affair with both sides turning around at the interval at 6-6. The hosts dominated the second half with their forwards particularly Lee Stevens and Phil Hill getting on top as the East coast outfit tired.
The home side were on the scoreboard within 3 minutes when the visitors fumbled a kick on the last tackle giving Beverley a fresh set of six. A slick handling movement then saw Steve Davidson’s long ball find Steve Connolly coming up in the line to draw his man perfectly and send Mike Cooper over in the corner for Watkin to convert. Cooper who took the man of the match award looked dangerous all afternoon nearly got a second when he waltzed through the defence but was unlucky to lose the ball in the act of scoring.
The visitors had much more of the game towards the end of the first half and got on the scoreboard with a converted try on the half hour mark after a spell of sustained pressure. Indeed, they nearly took the lead when giant ex-Beverley player and prop forward Keith Paddock broke through only to be felled by a try saving tackle from full back Steve Connolly. The incident proved to be crucial in the context of the game as the visitors never really looked like winning after then.
The hosts began to take charge in the second half and one almighty charge from Lee Stevens set up the position for another crisp handling movement in which Davidson was heavily influential and saw Mike Cooper go over in the corner for his second. Watkin again slotted the touchline conversion. Beverley were now turning the screw, and Ian Lane took advantage of a dropped pass to scamper away beneath the post for another converted try.
The ever industrious Gavin Proctor was on hand to latch onto an offload and further increase the lead with a try.
The visitors pulled back a try late in the game, but the hosts were far from done yet and Steve Davidson’s pass found Ian Lane, who went over for his second and round off an encouraging afternoon.
It is early days yet for Guy Adam’s men, but this victory will represent the first pieces of the jig-saw on the board. They have proven so far this season that defence and fitness are their strong points they now need to up their completion rates, which should ensure them a far greater share of possession in most of the matches.
This Saturday Beverley are away to Haworth Park kicking off at 2pm.
Final Score: Beverley ARLC 28 Scarborough Pirates 12 | Reported by Nick Robinson
Photos by Paul Linton
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