Another good day’s work for Beverley RUFC. Durham are having a tough season with only one win and before today only 47 points scored. Up against a Beverley RUFC side with six wins out of seven they were realistically on a hiding to nothing here. Beverley RUFC would almost certainly have expected a win and hoped to substantially improve their points difference. In the end they did it in some style with nine tries and without ever really having to extend themselves unduly. Durham were full of enterprise but were heavily outgunned in all departments and were never really in with a shout although they did give Beverley RUFC something to think about in the second half.
Richard Bussey got Beverley RUFC off to a good start with a try after five minutes after Goran Jelencic had made ground down the left and chipped ahead. A bit fortuitous perhaps because the ball looked to have crossed the dead ball line before he got the touchdown. But no matter, it was of little consequence in the overall scheme of things. Nonetheless in spite of constant pressure it took Beverley RUFC another twenty minutes to add to it, this time with a converted try by Joe Picketts who touched down after a determined run through the home defence.
Fly half Arnie Stephenson kicked a penalty for Durham but in a devastating ten minute spell Beverley RUFC took it from 12-3 to 31-3 with further tries by Picketts, Bussey and Tomasi Tanumi and two conversions by Phil Duboulay. Play was held up for twenty minutes awaiting the arrival of an ambulance after a nasty clash of heads left Durham tight head prop Neil Hart out cold. As a result with no further Durham front row forward on the bench the second half was played with uncontested scrums.
Perhaps it was attributable to the enforced delay or maybe the effect of the uncontested scrums but Beverley RUFC rather lost their impetus after the break. The home pack came hard at them direct from the restart and after five minutes flanker Jeff Roberts bulldozed his way over for a try which Stephenson converted. For long spells in the second half Beverley RUFC became bogged down in their own 22 and struggled to get possession or get out of it. On the other hand whenever they did get upfield into enemy territory they always looked likely to score and usually did.
Their backs were impressively marshalled by Duboulay and were far too pacy and penetrative for the home side. Leki Atiola went over for Beverley RUFC’s sixth try and David Worrall added a seventh after Beverley RUFC won a turnover in their 22. Chris Brant, who had a lively second half after coming off the bench, crossed for an eighth and five minutes from time Bussey with a lovely run from halfway rounded it off with a ninth. Add in Duboulay’s seven successful conversions from nine attempts and Beverley RUFC were able finish with an impressive points tally. Their only downside was conceding 17 largely gifted points due in part to a second converted try late on touched down by home flanker Peter Dent.
For all the flair in Beverley RUFC’s back division it is their pack which this season has consistently got them into winning positions. They are a solid unit with plenty of drive and with a powerful front row and a back row probably as good as any the league. Discipline has been relatively good but today’s penalty count against them, mostly in the second half, does not bear thinking about. In the end a yellow card was inevitable and Picketts was the unlucky recipient, although he may merely have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nonetheless he had had a quite outstanding game and fully deserved his two tries.
So Beverley RUFC march on with another convincing victory behind them. They will be looking for more of the same next week when they entertain strugglers Darlington and thereby keep up the pressure on Wheatley Hills who have a three point advantage.
Final Score : Durham 17 Beverley RUFC 59 | Reported by John Nursey
