Bentley hoodoo goes on for Blue and Golds
BEVERLEY crashed to a disappointing 26-10 defeat at Bentley, once again once again failing to overcome their Bentley hoodoo.
In four visits to Bentley, they have yet to come away with a win.
It was a deserved victory for a bulky home outfit who controlled the game well.
The visitors didn’t really get into the contest until 10 minutes into the second half when they had a mountain to climb, trailing 20-0.
Summing up events, coach Phil Horsfield said: “I thought we were poor in the first half and just could not get a foothold.
“Our marker play was poor again and we were bullied up front. Give the lads some credit, they kept going in the second half and actually won it 10-6.”
He added: “Josh Poskitt, Alfie Baxter and Lewis Miller went well for us but credit to Bentley who came with a basic game plan and executed it well. We regroup for next week when we again face Bentley at home.”
Bentley looked on top, particularly in the opening exchanges. Their beefy pack gained plenty of yards with each carry. They were 10-0 up inside 15 minutes courtesy of tries from Jude Thompson and Jack Craswell. The latter try was converted by Ryan Craswell.
The visitors attempted to hit back midway through the half. A good offload from Sam Roe saw the ball shipped to the left and Jonny Norman got over the line but couldn’t ground the ball in some heavy traffic.
In another raid on the half hour mark, Alec Hardie chipped over the top for Ben Rowan to regather. Rowan found Josh Poskitt who found Baxter. Baxter was pulled up inches short.
Two minutes before the break, the visitors conceded a line drop-out. The repeat set saw Ryan Craswell cross improved by Ben Sykes to give them a 16-0 interval lead.
Three minutes into the second half as Beverley lost possession close to their own line, they were again punished. The resulting set then saw Jordan Middleton cross for an unconverted try.
Shortly after, the visitors stirred into action. Alec Hardie’s kick on the last tackle forced an error by a Bentley defender and a line drop-out.
The extra set ended with the ball going to ground but shortly after a ball steal gave
Beverley another set which did not produce points but the tempo was now lifting.
The 54th minute finally saw Beverley get on the scoreboard. An interception in his own half by Ben Rowan saw him sprint away to score under the posts. Poskitt added the extras.
Moments later Rowan’s towering cross-field bomb was not dealt with by Bentley. Konnor Gallagher followed up to touch down wide out. The conversion was narrowly missed but the direction of the game seemed to be changing.
However, the visitors failed to convert further pressure into points and could not maintain the momentum.
The home side finished strongly and Jake Starbuck crossed, Sykes converted.
Beverley’s man of the match was Josh Poskitt whose sureness under the high ball was combined some effective raids in attack.