The blue and golds had to dig deep for this thoroughly deserved win last Saturday at Bilton. The home side enjoyed a lion’s share of possession and territory in the second half forcing Beverley to defend repeat set after set.
The character and guts that had to be shown made victory all the sweeter.
The hosts were first on the scoreboard in the 10th minute when a kick towards the corner was pounced on by their wingman to score a converted try.
Midway through the half came the reply. A long break from Lee Falcus, drafted in at centre for the day, set up the position. Ryan Watkin then broke through to send the supporting Tom Moore over beneath the posts for Watkin to convert.
Five minutes later the visitors took the lead direct from a scrum in the Bilton 20. Tom Moore who was influential all afternoon fed Ryan Watkin, who in turn fed Ben Calvert who took an inside pass to go over beneath the posts for another converted score.
The lead was extended after half an hour when the ball was shipped wide and the ball struck a Bilton defender and dollied up perfectly for Ian Lane to pounce and score another converted try.
Just before the interval a lapse in concentration saw Bilton kick to the corner on the first tackle, and their wingman again pounced to score out wide to reduce the lead to 18-10 at half time.
The battle between the two sets of forwards was an absorbing one. Lee Stevens, Gavin Platt and Ian Esselmont were stand out performers in a very hard but fair battle. They were given top class service from dummy half by the ever impish Gavin Proctor who also got through a marathon tackling stint.
The visitors extended their lead early in the second half in what was to be their only spell of sustained pressure in the half. Ben Calvert scored his second from close range. Bilton regained possession from the restart kick and scored a converted try from the resultant set of six to reduce the lead to 22-16.
For the rest of the game Bilton monopolized the play throwing everything at Beverley. Full back and man of the match Steve Connolly was a tower of strength for Beverley with try saving tackles and dealing with kicks high and low and returning them with interest.
Furthermore, the penalty count shifted hugely in favour of the home side.
The killer punch came five minutes from time during a rare venture into the Bilton 20 metre zone. A few tactical drives towards the posts allowed Ryan Watkin to calmly slot over a drop-goal. Two very hard earned, and valuable league points were sealed.
Coach Guy Adams who played himself in the first 20 minutes commented “I knew there was a performance like that in our boys”
Beverley will look to build on back to back wins this Saturday when they entertain Lambwath Lions at the Beverley Leisure Centre. Kick off is 2pm.
Final Score : Bilton Sully’s 16 Beverley ARLC 23 | Reported by Nick Robinson
