A good first half and some excellent defending brought Beverley RUFC what in the end turned out to be a comfortable victory. Both sides were up for this. Morley needed a win to maintain their push for promotion while Beverley RUFC had a score to settle after a poor performance and defeat in the earlier away meeting at Scatcherd Lane . Today Beverley RUFC had almost a full strength side out and for forty minutes they played some top class rugby which took them into a twenty seven point lead. It was just as well because Morley came back strongly after the break and might easily have got back into this game.
Beverley RUFC got off to a good start with a converted try after six minutes. James Holland and then Sam Kerry made ground down the right to set up a ruck from which Joe Picketts forced his way over. Morley had shown their intent from the outset by attacking powerfully with ball in hand. They should quickly have got back into it with a penalty in front of the posts but Simon Bradshaw’ s kick went narrowly wide. In normal circumstances the miss would not have been untoward but Bradshaw has been something of a bête noir to Beverley RUFC for years with his kicking. His miss of this simple penalty probably brought Beverley RUFC a bit of relief and encouragement.
Duboulay at the other end comfortably slotted a couple of much more difficult penalties to take Beverley RUFC to 13-0 and Morley then got themselves into further trouble with two yellow cards in the space of five minutes. Mark Chester was sin-binned for foul play and Steve Costello quickly joined him for entering a ruck from the side after the ball had gone. To lose your fly half and number eight at the same time is a major blow and Beverley RUFC made the most of it.
When a long range Duboulay penalty fell just short Beverley RUFC immediately counter attacked from the clearance kick. Some slick handling and David Worrall was in at the corner. He should have been tackled but Worrall is seldom denied when he has a sniff of the line from five metres out. Duboulay kicked a fine conversion from the touchline and then converted a third Beverley RUFC try after Tomasi Tanumi had streaked over from forty metres for a superb solo effort.
At 27-0 the lead was beginning to look unassailable but on the stroke of halftime Chester slipped through for a Morley try which Bradshow converted. 27-7 at the break still looked pretty safe for Beverley RUFC. Yet three converted tries would have turned it round and this never looked entirely beyond Morley’s capabilities.
Fortunately for Beverley RUFC within five minutes of the start of the second half Junior Tupai put Sam Atiola over to take it to 34-7 with Duboulay having added the conversion. And that really was more or less it. Holland was yellow carded for handling in the ruck and Bradshaw got over in the corner for Morley but by then was as good as all over. Any remaining doubts were allayed direct from the restart when Beverley RUFC were awarded a penalty and Duboulay made no mistake from thirty five metres.
Yet for the last half an hour Beverley RUFC were under almost constant pressure. For some reason their game fell apart and they became increasingly scrappy. Instead of continuing to move the ball quickly out to their dangerous backs Beverley RUFC dithered and in the later stages their backline functioned only in fits and starts. Poor decision making and a good deal of inept kicking presented Morley with almost unlimited possession. Only superb tackling, with Picketts particularly prominent, kept Morley out. Still, despite the disappointing last quarter it was an impressive win for Beverley RUFC, and against a side of Morley’s quality with only one defeat in their previous twelve games it was no mean feat. So Beverley RUFC’s grip on the championship continues to tighten.
Final Score : Beverley RUFC 37 Morley 12 | Reported by John Nursey
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