A gripping match and a real cliff-hanger. Beverley RUFC got there in the end but it was a mighty close thing. Six times the lead changed hands as both sides went flat out for victory to ease their relegation fears. Only three points now separate five clubs two of whom will join Rochdale in the drop. For Beverley RUFC this win will have done them a power of good after some indifferent recent performances. In fact in patches today they looked close to being back to their best. If they can build on this there is no reason why they should not climb to safety.
From the start both sides went at it hell for leather and the pace never let up. Billingham’s speedy backline very quickly showed why they are one of the league’s most improved clubs. But it was Beverley RUFC who took the lead with a try by Anthony Spence who was on hand to finish off a fine break by David Worrall down the left. Billingham responded with a try from scrum half Andy Evans following a quickly taken tapped penalty and centre Will Turnbull added another to put them 10-5 ahead.
For a long spell Billingham had the upper hand, making fewer errors and carrying the greater threat in attack. Beverley RUFC’s cause was not helped by poor kicking and frequent indiscipline, including a yellow card for Junior Tupai. But they got back to 8-10 with a long range penalty from Phil Dale only for Billingham to immediately stretch away again with a try by winger Chris Shepherd after a Beverley RUFC clearance kick ran dead and the scrum-back was conceded deep in their own half.
Another Billingham score then and Beverley RUFC would have been in a sticky position but Dale kicked a second penalty to reduce it to 11-15 and two minutes later Beverley RUFC went in front when Worrall broke away and set up Glen Walden for a try. Thanks to a fortuitous Billingham penalty miss in front of the posts Beverley RUFC turned round, perhaps a bit luckily, 16-15 up at the interval.
Early in the second half Manu Kirkwood came on in the front row for Francis Pickering and made an immediate impact by giving away a penalty in front of the posts. Evans atoned for his earlier miss and Billingham were two points in front again. For no discernable reason Beverley RUFC suddenly became a different side. For twenty minutes they took the game to their opponents with a vigour and urgency we have not seen for weeks. Martin Shaw was an inspiration up front as was John Stephenson who had a fine match.
After his early misdemeanour Kirkwood made his not inconsiderable presence felt to good effect. There was better movement in the backs too. Walden and Sam Atiola always looked lively and Chris Harding made two lovely breaks although three times he was guilty of holding on with a clear overlap outside him. But Worrall was simply immense. He was at the heart of everything good that Beverley RUFC did and was involved in four of the five tries. With a powerful diagonal run he went over himself and in a repeat move five minutes later he almost put Walden in, though a try still resulted as Tupai picked up from the breakdown and dived over.
In between, Billingham prop Dixon had touched down to briefly restore the visitors’ lead when Beverley RUFC made a mess of a lineout in their own 22. But Beverley RUFC by now were in determined mood. Tupai’s try had put them 26-23 ahead and Kirkwood bulldozed his way up to and over the line to take them two scores clear. Then suddenly we were faced with a nail-biting finish as Evans kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit to a single try. Billingham gave it everything during a thrilling last ten minutes in an attempt to snatch victory but the only further scores were another penalty apiece for Dale and Evans.
Reported by John Nursey
Final Score: Beverley RUFC 34 Billingham 29
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Good result. Can’t beat pics of a scuffle