Beverley Braves, eager for the last match of the season, was faced with an opposition who sadly had only 10 players so the Braves lined up with the same to make the match a more even battle.
Beverley started well. Tony Usher made a strong run down the middle to start the attack. A loose ball was cleanly picked up by James McGahey and the resulting play found Bailey Clark who made a stunning charge that took the Braves close to the Crigglestone line and Joe Wardill powered over to open the scoring and then converted his own try.
Unruffled the visitors and came back attacking hard, but a text book tackle from strong centre Will Johnson followed by a big push bundled the attacking player into touch. Directly from this excellent play by Johnson, Wardill received the ball in his own half and charged through the tackle and released an eager Harry Inman who accelerated down the pitch out pacing the players chasing him and he placed the ball firmly under the posts for a fantastic try.
Wardill added the two easily. Crigglestone still attacked well when in possession but so often they hit a brick wall especially when they ran anywhere near Harry Bulleyment.
Clark, who had a fantastic game, used his sheer strength to hold up a player on his line stopping a certain try. It was not long before a set play came to fruition with a classy try from prop Callum Officer who was found speeding down the wing for a brilliantly worked moved.
Despite leading the game the Braves could not relax and strong efficient tackling from McGahey and another excellent defensive move by Johnson forced the player yet again into touch. Not long before the half time whistle Beverley gave a strong push and excellent team play saw McGahey receive the ball and he used all his skill and strength to get over the white wash and give the Braves a 20 point advantage to take into the second half.
Beverley knew that the All Blacks would not give up the fight and a great passing move saw Clark break through their defensive line and power over within only a few minutes with Wardill adding the extras. Joe Mankel, tough in the middle as always, made a strong charging burst which gained valuable yards. Conor Egan returning after a bad injury was solid on the wing with Zak Mayo played his usual physical game passing the ball around well.
Johnson found himself one on one in the tackle and stole the ball from the Crigglestone player. This again directly influenced the next try as the ball was then moved out wide to Inman who took sight of the line and made it his job to power over. The All Blacks retaliated though in the best way scoring their own try under the Braves sticks and this gave them confidence despite having tired limbs.
Darren Benstead though halted them in their tracks every time with a smile along with team mate Charlie White who are a formidable duo on the pitch. Wardill scored another great try when he received the ball in his own half and broke through the players to pull away from the chasers and sprint over under the uprights again adding the extras.
Crigglestone came back though with a try of their own but Beverley pressed on undeterred as Connor Davies caught an All Black kick so cleanly and then pressed up field with his usual power and the resulting play found Johnson adding to his tally with another fantastic try from his own half out-sprinting the chasers easily. The final try of the match came from play maker Nathan Collinson who had an excellent game distributing the ball around the park skilfully.
He linked superbly with Inman and then received the ball back to out smart the defence and score a stunning try to end the game 48 – 12 and 3rd position in the Heinz Big Yorkshire Division 1.
Final Score : Beverley Braves 48 V Crigglestone All Blacks 12 | Reported By Sue Wardill
