Beverley RUFC rounded off the season in rampant mood as they demolished a very determined Acklam side by 67 points to 10.
From the kick-off Beverley put pressure on the Acklam line but were unable to break through. This was largely due to the number of infringements by the Acklam forwards which resulted in four penalties and a yellow card for them within the first 5 minutes.
Things settled down a little after that although the referee was certainly kept very busy, continually penalising the visitors which did not please the travelling support! At last after 20 minutes the Beavers took the lead through a Steve Wiggill try which Phil Duboulay converted (7-0). Two minutes later Raymond Coates went over for his first try (12-0).
Acklam hit back with an Ashton penalty (12-3) and the big visiting forwards were making life a little uncomfortable for their Beverley counterparts. However, Ray Coates scored his second try which Phil Duboulay converted (19-3) and on the stroke of half time Luke Hazell sliced through the Acklam defence to score behind the posts for Phil Duboulay to convert (26-3).
A strange half this. Despite plenty of points there was little flowing rugby with the strong Acklam pack pushing Beverley around a little and the constant interruptions preventing the Beavers from bringing their obviously superior backs into the game enough.
Thankfully, although the game already looked won and the bonus point was secured, the second half was an entirely different story. The Beavers forwards started to achieve more parity in the scrums and were able to bring their backs into things, and how they, the backs, revelled in it!
They absolutely shredded the visitors out wide and ran in 7 tries through Jacob Holmes, Jack Garvin (2),Will Turnbull, Luke Hazell, Phil Dubloulay and, not to be outdone Raymond Coates completed his hat trick, although it has to be said that Luke Hazell passed him the ball whilst over the line in a moment of generosity,probably because had he scored himself it would have been his hat trick and he felt that Raymond could afford the jug of beer more.
Phil Duboulay converted three of the aforementioned tries and M.Sudron scored a consolation try for Acklam which Ashton converted to bring the final score to 67 points to 10.
All of Beverley’s tries, in this half in particular, came from some of the most exhilarating back play that we have seen this season and it would be unfair to single anyone out as they all played their part in what was a grand finale to this entertaining season.
