These two sides staged a quality pre-season friendly in the pleasant Wintry sunshine at the Beverley Leisure Centre.
Eastmoor Dragons managed to steal the spoils with a try right on the stroke of full time, but both sides will take much from the game.
Beverley had the better of the opening exchanges with half backs Lewis Poskitt and Lewis Straw both looking lively and ensuring that the ball was given plenty of air. There was plenty of lateral movement of the ball at this stage without really penetrating the visitors.
The Wakefield outfit withstood the hosts early onslaught and gradually grew into the game. A spell of pressure aided by penalties and repeat sets saw them sneak over for the games first points in the 15th minute with a dart from dummy half close to the line.
The extras were added. The re-start kick did bounce into touch to give Beverley an attacking set close to the Eastmoor line. The home side failed to convert this pressure into points as the visiting defence was resolute as it was for most of the afternoon. Eastmoor then countered as the first-half penalty count weighed heavily in their favour. It was Beverley’s turn this time to defend well.
On the half hour mark Lewis Poskitt chipped ahead for Chris Johnson to re-gather and slip a pass to Billy Riby, who was unlucky to be held up over the line as a chance went begging. Very shortly after more Eastmoor pressure saw them again sneak over from dummy half with the conversion added to lead 12-0. As half-time fast approached another chance was spurned as Billy Riby gathered the ball in space and passed to Josh Poskitt, who was forced into touch by some desperate scrambling defence.
The early moments of the second half saw the home side with a spring in their step. A kick downfield saw an effective chase and possession spilled by the visitors. After the ball was shipped from side to side, Lewis Straw kicked ahead to regather and score with Josh Poskitt adding the extras.
The re-start kick was allowed to go dead by Beverley, but the visitors could not exploit the resulting attacking set. Beverley soon started to enjoy their best spell of the game. Bobby Howdle, Jake Hart-Fisher and Lee Stevens all ground out the hard yards well. The penalty count also started to turn in the host’s favour. They got their rewards when 17 years-old Ethan Cambridge managed to steal an opportunist try from dummy half. Poskitt converted to level things up at 12-12.
Both sides had their opportunity to win the game in the remaining 20 minutes but both defences remained largely on top. Passions ran high at times culminating in a fracas five minutes from time, which saw two men from either side sin-binned.
A break from the visitors in the dying seconds looked to have try written all over it but for a desperate last gasp ankle tap from Billy Riby. However, the ball was then moved across field with one last throw of the dice. The ball was kicked, fumbled by a Beverley player and pounced on by the visitors to score and converted.
Man of the match was Lewis Straw who is looking to show great promise following his close season move from Skirlaugh. Head coach Scott Taylor and Director of Rugby Pat Howdle will see a work in progress but plenty to look forward to in 2017 from a largely youthful squad. Beverley now have the weekend off before travelling to Castleford to take on Fryston in the BARLA National Cup on February 18th.
Final Score: Beverley ARLC 12 Eastmoor Dragons 18 | Reported by Nick Robinson
