Another Jekyll and Hyde day for Beverley – badly below par one week and at the top of their game the next. Having slipped in recent weeks to an uncomfortably low position in Yorkshire One they needed a good win and they got it.
This was without doubt the best rugby they have played for some time, in the first half at any rate. In the second half with the game comfortably won they went off the boil a bit and the match in its later stages became fairly scrappy.
A drive to the line from short range by the pack and touchdown by Andy Meagher followed by a Phil Duboulay penalty got them on their way and put them ten points up after a quarter of an hour.
Upfront the Beverley pack from the outset looked an altogether different proposition from what we have seen in recent weeks. Today there was plenty of oomph and determination not only in the set pieces but in the loose play where they out-muscled their bigger opponents and were yards quicker about the field.
Every forward put himself about to good effect none more so than Danny Morris who had a particularly fine game.
Another drive to the line brought a try for Calum Harvey and on the stroke of halftime with Dinnington fly half White in the sin-bin Beverley scored the best try of the day. They counter-attacked from their own 22, went left, and Theo Richardson was put away down the wing.
From fifty metres he outpaced the defence down the touchline, shrugging off several tackles on the way, and went over in the corner. There was still just time for Dinnington scrum-half Breeden to slot a penalty before halftime but with the score at 20-3 and Beverley well on top the game as a contest was as good as over.
The return at scrum-half of skipper Rob Smith together with the astute play of Duboulay sparked some of the best running rugby by the Beverley backline we have seen this season. Jacob Holmes and Jake Boardman both ran strongly in the centre although it would perhaps have been nice to see the wings brought into play a bit more often. The second half was barely underway when Smith with a quickly taken tap penalty caught Dinnington napping, cut through the defence, and sent Duboulay over for a converted try under the posts to secure the bonus point.
The referee throughout was never short of helpful advice from the Dinnington touchline and they would have been delighted when he signalled a try for their second row Leitch after Dinnington had driven to the line from a lineout. White converted to keep the visitors in touch albeit only just. Within minutes Holmes promptly responded with a lovely break down the middle setting up Jack Foster for a try in the corner and realistically that was that.
Dinnington the previous week had run the league leaders close. They did create several good chances here but wasted them with poor handling, sometimes when it looked easier to score than not to. With ten minutes left a trademark Luke Hazell try from halfway which Duboulay converted took it to 39-10. Thereafter the game steadily drifted towards a scrappy ending with full-back Rob Leivars touching down at the death for a second Dinnington try when they were awarded a penalty for which Boardman received a yellow card.
The club with some relief now moves up to eighth in the table. A 39-15 win marked a good day for Beverley who had welcomed the Mayor and civic party for lunch. The margin of victory would in fact have been greater had Duboulay not been surprisingly out of sorts with his place kicking, something not often seen.
Final Score: Beverley RUFC 39 Dinnington 15
