Beverley victorious in topsy-turvy tussle
BEVERLEY edged home 26-22 against Milford in a tense encounter at the Leisure Centre.
The lead changed hands four times in the last 15 minutes with man of the match Ben Rowan’s 79th minute touchdown proving decisive.
Beverley will consider themselves just a shade fortunate to come away with the points in a game they never really got control of.
A spirited Leeds outfit with only four wins so far this season belied their league position and will feel disappointed to not come away with something from the contest.
The visitors had a number of early attacking sets, testing Beverley’s defensive resolve.
One such set saw the ball moved across to the right with a pass going to ground.
The ball was scooped up by Lewis Miller who sprinted the remaining 70 metres to score with a number of covering defenders in pursuit. Josh Poskitt converted the 10th minute try.
Three minutes later, Bobby Howdle’s awkward to handle running style saw him break away from in his own half to touch down beneath the posts. Poskitt again converted.
Despite a 12-0 advantage, the home side failed to take control and Milford enjoyed plenty of possession. They converted it into points in the 32nd minute courtesy of a Jack Keton try improved by Jake Payne to close the gap to 12-6.
The gap closed further when Steve Bacon crossed for an unconverted score a minute before the break. It was all to play for at 12-10 at half-time.
In the second half the visitors continued to test the Beverley defence. A few handling errors by the home side when taking the ball away from their own line saw them concede extra sets and put pressure on themselves.
Scoring chances were at a premium for the hosts at this stage. The 50th minute did see the ball moved to the right for Joe Rose to kick ahead but it had a little too much strength on it and went dead.
There were no further second half points until Taylor Stephenson gave the visitors the lead for the first time with a 65th minute touchdown, Payne converting to make it 16-12.
Urgency then crept into the home side’s game. The 71st minute saw Alec Hardie’s bomb caught by Ben Rowan in a crowd of defenders, to cross just to the left of the posts. Poskitt adding the extras for an 18-16 lead.
Moments later Beverley lost possession driving the ball away from their line. The resulting set saw Joe Tharme crash over beneath the posts converted by Payne.
There was to be one more twist. The restart kick bounced into touch to give Beverley a dangerous attacking set.
After a number of lunges for the line, Ben Rowans sidestepped his way to a try. Poskitt converted to restore Beverley’s lead at 24-22 with a minute to go plus stoppage time.
Beverley then got down the Milford end again and were awarded a penalty in kick-able range.
Poskitt slotted the attempt over to use up some time and the full time whistle blew. The home side breathed a sigh of relief.