Cold, wet, windy, a long suspension of play for a serious injury, and a stand full of home supporters who seldom paused in their relentless whingeing at the referee. Not a good day for Beverley either. From their league position point of view there was nothing at stake here and they played accordingly. For Bradford a win was essential to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation and they fully deserved this victory, albeit with three of their tries handed to them on a plate.
The pattern of the game was set from the start. Beverley had nearly all the play and created numerous chances but failed to come up with any points. Bradford playing well above their league standing defended superbly but Beverley for all their possession could find no cutting edge. Indeed the nearest either side came to scoring in the first quarter was when Bradford broke clear down their right, only to be penalised just short of the line for holding on.
With the strong wind behind them Beverley needed to get points on the board before halftime and eventually after twenty minutes James Holland went over under the posts from an inside pass by Phil Duboulay who slotted the conversion. It should have opened the door for further points but in the space of five minutes they went behind to two home tries. The first followed a Bradford break down the centre and an easy run-in for right wing James Morton, the second the result of dreadful handling when Beverley were themselves on the point of scoring. A simple scoring pass was dropped, Bradford full back Richard Scull pounced and sprinted seventy metres down the touchline for a try which he converted himself.
It was the beginning of the end for Beverley. Duboulay and Scull traded penalties but Beverley were left trailing 15-10 at the break with the prospect of having to face the strong wind in the second half. Within ten minutes of the restart Bradford had stretched their lead to 25-10 through a second Scull penalty and a converted try by centre James Tafa who ran in from a simple interception on halfway.
Three scores behind Beverley seldom looked like pulling the game round. They never stopped trying to run the ball and they continued to enjoy by far the greater possession. But they could find no way through, partly because of Bradford’s solid defending but mainly because they were unusually lacking in penetration. There was a lot of huffing and puffing but it was all rather pedestrian.
Even the Beverley pack which has played so dominantly in recent weeks met its match here. Today they never had it all their own way although a catch and drive to the line did bring a try for Tonci Buzov which kept Beverley interested. Unlikely though it looked two converted tries could still have brought them victory.
Play was suspended for forty five minutes for attention to the young Beverley hooker, Alex Keeton who was taken to hospital with a neck injury. It was just not Beverley’s day. But when play eventually resumed they went flat out to turn things round. Richard Bussey was now back in his normal position at full back and Beverley looked much better for it.
They attacked down the left and a third try was there for the taking only for a loose final pass to be intercepted by Morton who raced fifty metres down the wing and sent Scull in for a fourth home try. Fafa was sinbinned for persistent offending but even with the extra man it was all over for Beverley. As time ran out Alex Ogilvie did produce a crumb of comfort with a try in the corner which he earned by sheer determination, forcing his way down the touchline from twenty metres out. His had been a wholehearted afternoon’s effort and the try was no less than he deserved. Otherwise there was not much here for Beverley to cheer about.
Final Score: Bradford & Bingley 32 Beverley RUFC 20 | Reported by John Nursey
Photos by Neil McKenzie | Meza9
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