This was always going to be a tough encounter on the East coast against a side that will contest the Tom Beautiman Cup Final against Cottingham Tigers next month but the way the blue and golds played in the opening 30 minutes suggested an unlikely victory.
Nathan Wilkinson was the only notable absentee from last week and Gavin Proctor, Adam Norton and Ian Lane all returned from injury to bolster up the pack. The opposing pack was a beefy and very physical one, and the forwards particularly Mark Nicholson and Lee Stevens never took a backward step despite a number of high tackles.
The visitors were on the scoreboard in the 5th minute following an opportunistic ball steal from Mike Cooper. In the resultant set of six inside the Scarborough 20 meter zone the ball was shipped to the right with Steve Davidson’s defence splitting pass finding Ben Calvert out wide. Calvert came on to the ball at a rate of knots to score a try that was converted by Ryan Watkin.
The visitors continued to dominate the exchanges but injuries seemed to disrupt their rhythm. Mike Cooper and Tim Niccolini had to leave the field with leg injuries and also Ryan Watkin and Ian Esselmont suffered facial cuts. Watkin’s injury was serious enough to necessitate a visit to Scarborough Hospital.
The home side got a crucial try just before the break when a high kick on the last tackle saw Steve Connolly leap to catch the ball, but he appeared to be challenged in the air. The ball came free and play was allowed to go on and the hosts scored beside the posts but the conversion went wide so Beverley hung onto a slender 6-4 interval lead.
The second half saw the home side enjoy a much greater share of possession and territory. When Beverley had possession, they seemed to lack creativity due to them having to reshuffle so many players into different positions because of all the injuries. The feisty exchanges continued in the second half of the match official struggling to control the game at times.
The home side snatched the lead in th 50th minute and then added a further 18 points 12 of which were breakaway efforts, which fed off a Beverley handling error when they were on the attack in the Scarborough 20 meter zone.
Mark Nicholson deservedly took the man of the match award for his work, especially in defence being phenomenal. Gavin Proctor had to be switched to scrum half but continued to prompt and probe all afternoon in his usual style.
Beverley snatched a late consolation try from wingman Lee Falcus to add respectability. Coach Guy Adams commented “We competed on a level for forty minutes today, but I think injuries just took their toll in the end”
Beverley ARLC are at home to Haworth Park Rangers this Saturday not to be confused with Haworth Park, who share the same ground. Kick off is 2pm at the Beverley Leisure Centre.
Final Score : Scarborough Pirates 28 Beverley ARLC 10 | Reported by Nick Robinson
