Heart Breaking Defeat For Blue & Golds At Leisure Centre

A touchline conversion by the visitors in the dying seconds of this encounter at the Leisure centre proved to be the vital difference between the two sides last Saturday.

Both sides served up a really old fashioned arm-wrestle that entertained the crowd on a dull and drizzly afternoon. The match was very much a battle between both sets of forwards. Louis Hubbard and man of the match Rich Etherington were shining lights. Etherington particularly ground out the yards when the going was tough.

The home side started quicker than their previous two encounters this season and were first on the scoreboard with a try from Robert Howdle. Howdle danced around several defenders to score beside the posts in the 10th minute. Watkin converted. The visitors replied with a converted score five minutes later. The hosts got the initiative back when finding touch with the restart kick. Several quality set completions followed before the lead was regained.

Lee Falcus got a pass away to Craig Morfitt, who then returned a pass to Lee Falcus, which went to ground. However, Falcus regathered to dive in at the corner. Watkin again converted.

Five minutes before the break the visitors replied with an unconverted try. They levelled things up on the stroke of half time with a penalty goal which appeared to miss but was still awarded.

There was early danger in the second half for the home side as the visitors big second row forward broke clear, and it took a last ditch tackle from full back Lee Falcus to deny him. For the rest of the game both sets of forwards slugged it out seeming to have the measure of each other.

The visitors just edged into the lead with a drop-goal with 12 minutes remaining. The home side were sprung into action and commenced to throw the ball around. This seemed to bring salvation with five minutes to go. Steve Connolly’s kick to the corner was pounced on by Craig McNee to score wide out.

A touchline conversion was tacked on by Ryan Watkin for an 18-13 lead with five minutes to go. That final five minutes was spent almost entirely in the Beverley 20 meter zone. The crucial moment came when the visitor’s wingman was forced into touch on the last tackle. As the ball emerged from the resultant scrum for Beverley, it was lost giving the visitors another set of six close to the Beverley line.

Pressure finally told with the visitors scoring wide out and adding the conversion. This was a heart breaking defeat but perhaps a lesson in closing a tight game down.

Beverley is without a league game this weekend but may arrange a friendly against Premeir League opposition, but the opposition is not yet known at the time of going to print.

Final Score : Beverley ARLC 18 Three Tuns 19 | Reported by Nick Robinson