Beverley ARLFC beat Hull Dockers 30 – 12 gaining a well-deserved morale-boosting win for the Blue and Golds who have been doing it tough for several weeks.
Tony Spence commented;
“It was nice to see our lads play with a smile on their faces again. We’ve been striving for this for many weeks but not been able to keep up that intensity for long enough.”
The much wider Thurlow Avenue pitch created a good spectacle for a large crowd who also enjoyed the Beverley Braves ‘fun day’ beforehand.
As the game settled down after the opening exchanges, the home side took the lead after 10 minutes. A jinking run out of dummy half by Bobby Howdle set up position for a quick play. The ball was moved swiftly to the right to send Lewis Miller over in the corner. Josh Poskitt converted.
The restart kick went dead immediately putting the hosts under pressure but they were up to the task. The visitors started to enjoy more of the play which was punctuated only by one flowing movement to the right which saw Lewis Miller tackled into touch at the last moment.
The game boiled over in the 25th minute when a fracas ensued which saw red cards for Beverley’s Jordan Precious and Docker’s Davis Bade for their part in the incident.
The visitors almost got on level terms shortly after but lost the ball over the line. As the home side countered Lewis Straw’s cross-kick saw Josh Poskitt impeded. A quick tap was taken and soon Alex Starling’s strong run then saw him get a pass away to send Sam Roe over. Josh Poskitt converted.
Now leading 12-0 they nearly went further ahead when Billy Riby’s break saw him pass to the supporting Francis Coggle but Coggle’s pass to Lewis Straw went to ground. It was a chance gone begging.
As the first half went into injury time, a high kick by the visitors was allowed to bounce and Olly Agar pounced for Dan Suddaby to convert.
As injury time rolled on another high kick caused problems and was not dealt with and Adam Flintham this time pounced for Suddaby to again convert. The 2 sides turned around on level terms at 12 apiece.
The visitors started the quicker of the 2 sides in the second half.
But a useful enough kick on the last tackle was fielded by Lewis Miller who raced away then sidestepped the chasing cover for a 90 meter try.
Poskitt adding the extras on 50 minutes. 5 minutes later Lewis Straw added a penalty to stretch the Beverley lead to 20-12.
In the 65th minute as the home side forced a line drop-out, they took advantage of the repeat set. Alex Calvert twisted and turned in the tackle to force his way over. Josh Poskitt converted and at 26-12 Beverley looked home and dry.
5 minutes from time, as the visitors threw caution to the wind in attack inside the Beverley 20, Sam Roe intercepted. After sprinting away Roe’s well-timed pass with the cover in pursuit sent Lewis Miller sprinting away for his hat-trick.
There was then the only missed conversion of the afternoon but the final whistle was soon blown and Beverley were good value for a 30-12.
