Eleven tries and plenty of expansive rugby but for Beverley RUFC the day was all rather unsatisfactory.
They conceded three soft tries in the first quarter of an hour and never quite recovered from it. There was no lack of effort and at one stage they got back to within ten points but in the end they were well beaten. Rossendale still entertain hopes of a play-off place and they, like Beverley, went all out for victory. Although both sides were clearly up for it Rossendale on the day were the more ruthless and streetwise and they undoubtedly deserved the win, although not perhaps by quite as much as 32 points.
It started to go wrong for Beverley RUFC almost straight from the kick-off. After only five minutes Rossendale flanker Matt McKenzie was allowed to break through from a five metre scrum for a simple try. Although Phil Dale quickly responded with a penalty Beverley immediately made a mess of a lineout on their own line and prop Ian Marshall caught the Beverley throw to crash over for a second Rossendale try.
In these early stages Beverley RUFC could hardly get any possession but when they did have the ball they looked dangerous. A storming run by Sam Atiola led to the ball being moved quickly left for Goran Jelencic to race in at the corner. Sadly they then allowed the restart kick to bounce about in their 22 and when they did try to clear it the clearance kick was charged down leaving winger Anthony Bingham with a simple touchdown. Barely a quarter of an hour gone and with James Bramhall’s three conversions Rossendale already had 21 points, all more or less handed to them on a plate.
It was already an uphill struggle for Beverley and it clearly did not look like being their day. The fluency of recent weeks was also not quite there. The inclination to try to do it all through the middle also seemed unfortunately to have crept back. This looked especially ill-advised against a pack as big and powerful as Rossendale’s. When they did move the ball through the hands Beverley looked far more dangerous but sadly it did not reach Jelencic and Glen Walden on the wings often enough.
A cleverly worked converted try by full back Roger Dennison took Rossendale to 28-8 only for a superb solo riposte just before halftime by Atiola to bring Beverley back to 28-15. With scores coming freely at each end it was by no means all over for Beverley at the break even though they had the slope to contend with in the second half. But it seemed that every time they were on the point of getting back into it they fell further behind. Only two minutes into the second half home centre Tom Albinson raced clear for another converted try although he looked lucky to get away with a clear knock-on in the process. 35-15 but back came Beverley again. Walden with a thrilling run set up Atiola who went in for a third Beverley try. Dale added the conversion and then kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit to only ten points.
Not only had they narrowed the gap but they were beginning to get well on top. Another converted try and who knows. Walden, Tupai, and David Worrall all went close as they threw everything into it. But the defining moment came when a Beverley prop standing out in the backline dropped the ball and Rossendale swept from one end of the field to the other and virtually settled the result with a try by Dennison. From 35-25 the score rapidly went to 57-25 in not much more than ten minutes as Rossendale romped home with further tries from Marshall and Paul Keys with Bramhall adding two conversions and a penalty.
A disappointing day for Beverley RUFC for whom safety from relegation now all hinges on the final fixture against Middlesbrough on May 7th.
Final Score: Rossendale 57 Beverley RUFC 25 | Reported by John Nursey