Chris Johnson dived over in the corner to snatch a point for the blue and golds in a game in which they will consider themselves unlucky to not have taken both points.
However, with a number of late cry-offs and many unavailable, they will perhaps be relieved with a draw. Pat Howdle praised his resilient troops and also commented;
“It was one of them games where both sides were disappointed with a draw.”
The opening half an hour saw the home side dominate possession and territory and asked a lot of questions of Beverley at the same time. They looked like scoring in the opening minute when a break from deep required a last ditch tackle from debutant full back Ben Goaten to deny the opposition a try.
There were more near misses for the home side including a kick ahead on the last which saw Siddal regather only for the attacker to be turned on his back and denied a try. There was some resolute defence by the visitors at this stage.
In the 31st minute, the deadlock was broken by Beverley slightly against the run of play. Bobby Howdle’s stab into the in-goal area hit a Siddal defender and bounced into the hands of the grateful Craig Morfitt, who touched down wide out. Bobby Howdle converted. Bobby Howdle stroked over a penalty on the stroke of half-time to extend Beverley’s lead to 8-0.
The kick-off by the home side was allowed to go dead immediately putting Beverley under pressure. There was more repeat sets to defend, but the visitors were equal to the task. Beverley did then manage to get a spell of pressure inside the Siddal 20 which they game away empty handed.
The fight back for the home side appeared to begin when Connor McCallum broke away to score from a pass which looked suspiciously forward. The conversion was added. Five minutes later a much needed try was scored by Beverley. Lewis Poskitt’s cross-field kick was given chase by Craig Morfitt forcing a knock-on by the Siddal winger. From the resulting scrum, quick ball from Lewis Poskitt saw Peter Starling force his way over beneath the posts for Jack Howdle to convert for a 14-6 lead.
There was more defending to do for the visitors, and they held out until the 68th and 70th minutes. Ben Hinsley and Dom Booth both added tries for the hosts of which both were converted to lead 18-14. With the visitors seemingly out on their feet it looked as if the home side were about to secure both points.
There was still something left in the tank for Beverley. Chris Johnson broke from deep with 7 minutes to go. He got a pass away to Craig Morfitt in space, but the centre could not hold onto the difficult pass.
When it seemed Siddal had successfully ran down the clock inside the Beverley 20, they lost the ball.
Peter Starling snatched the ball sprinted away 70 meters only to be chased down 5 meters short. But with one last throw of the dice the ball was shipped to the left for Chris Johnson to score in the corner despite a flurry of desperate defenders around him. The difficult conversion could not be added and the final whistle blew. Man of the match was Craig Morfitt.
This Saturday Beverley are at home to third placed and fancied outfit Doncaster Toll Bar in one of the most attractive games of the season kicking off at 2.30pm at the Beverley Leisure Centre.
However, they will have also played a re-arranged mid-week game at Mirfield Stags on Wednesday evening.
Final Score : Siddal Academy 18 Beverley 18 | Reported by Nick Robinson
