In the end the blue and golds will be pleased to get their first win in the 40/20 and when leading 40-8 after 65 minutes, it appeared very much job done. However, a plucky South Yorkshire outfit refused to throw in the towel and registered 22 points in the closing stages to give the hosts something of a fright.
This 40/20 pre-season cup gives coaches an opportunity to give all of their squad some game time and coaches Howdle and Taylor again shuffled the cards again this week. Ryan Watkin, Sam Coleman and Jake Hart-Fisher were all missing with work commitments so Callum O’Connor, Mike Brown and Josh Pooley joined the 17 man squad.
In more pleasant spring-like conditions at the Beverley Leisure Centre, Bentley started the quicker of the two sides and were on the scoreboard in five minutes. An unconverted try wide out resulted from some pressure exerted by some of their bulky strong running forwards. The hosts replied in the 11th minute when a quality set inside the Bentley 20 ended with Jack Humphrie’s long ball finding Ben Naylor lurking out wide. The centre duly obliged with a try wide out which could not be improved to put the home side on level terms.
They took the lead mid-way through the half as the visitors moved the ball wide in a dangerous looking position. Billy Riby who again came off the bench intercepted and showed a real turn of pace to race away and touch down beneath the posts. Bobby Howdle converting. Five minutes later, he added his second try when after a spell of pressure Lewis Poskitt and Howdle combined to send him over wide out for a converted score. Beverley had one more raid on the Bentley line which was snuffed out, and Beverley went to the half-time dressing rooms 16-4 up.
Beverley were at their clinical best in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. The burst of scoring began five minutes in when Alex Calvert stole possession for the home side inside the visiting 20 to give them a dangerous attacking set. It ended with skipper Tom Radley bouncing off a few defenders before sending Chris Johnson over. There then was to follow a sharp and incisive dart out of dummy half from Tom Moore, who drew his man perfectly to send Alex Calvert over beneath the posts.
Bentley posted a try, but it was brief respite. Some strong defence forced a Bentley man into touch close to his own line. The resultant set ended with fluent handling sending Glen Anfield over wide out. Beverley again took advantage of a Bentley error moments later. A kick downfield was fumbled, and more pressure followed that was aided by a penalty as the match boiled over a little and tempers frayed. Beverley kept their cool and crisp handling sent Glen Anfield over for his second. Bobby Howdle was accurate with the boot to convert all of Beverley’s second half tries.
At this point, Beverley made a few substitutions to shuffle the squad and things got a little slack.
Bentley are a similar bulky outfit to last season, but they never appear to lie down. It was fortunate that Beverley had built up such a commanding lead. The visiting pack, with second rower Tom Flanders, leading the charge never stopped grinding out the meters. Gareth Burns and Ryan Craswell registered two late tries apiece to give the hosts the jitters. The committee’s man of the match was shared between Tom Radley and Jimmy Walker whose vast experience shone through on the day.
This Saturday Beverley will hit the road in their next 40/20 cup game. They travel to Leeds to take on Stanningley with the bus departing 11.45am outside the Hodgsons.
Final Score : Beverley ARLC 40 Bentley 30 | Reported by Nick Robinson
