ROCHDALE 34 BEVERLEY 10

This was another disappointing day for Beverley who were well beaten for the second week running by a side battling to avoid relegation. After a fine run in mid season they look for the moment to have rather lost their way; in fact an unknowing spectator today would scarcely have guessed that of the two sides it was Rochdale who were the relegation threatened side. They went into this game with a good deal more determination and expectancy than Beverley and played some cracking rugby. Beverley tackled well in defence and tried heroically to play a running game but that is about as far as it went.

The game could not have got off to a worse start for Beverley. Within two minutes they were a converted try down when dithering in midfield and a wild pass let Rochdale in for a try from wing forward Gareth Adams which Steven Collins converted. For a quarter of an hour Beverley enjoyed the better of the territorial advantage. They had plenty of possession but all afternoon it was slow ball from the forwards and the backs could make little impression. Jade Gardiner did once burst away and Beverley would have scored had he not opted to hang on five metres out when a pass to his winger would have brought a simple touchdown. For Beverley it was that sort of day. Increasingly nothing went right and they seldom again looked like scoring. The nearest they got to it was a lovely break by Ally Forth who nearly made it to the line when he broke away from a maul on the home 22.

Jamie Gill eventually reduced the deficit with a penalty but Beverley’s hopes once again quickly evaporated. Sadly for them indiscipline was never far away. They were constantly penalised for infringing at the ruck and when backchat to the referee advanced play ten metres Collins crosskicked to the Beverley corner where there was no sign of any defenders and winger Jim Flitcroft gathered to stroll over for a simple try. Another infringement at a ruck in front of the posts gave Collins an easy kick at goal and at 15-3 the game was beginning to slip away from Beverley. It was more or less all done and dusted on the stroke of halftime when a tackle on the Rochdale winger was badly missed and scrum half Robert Neave went over for another converted try.

Turning round 22-3 down the last thing Beverley needed was to start the second half as they had the first. But within five minutes they had conceded two identical tries which effectively wrapped it all up. Both were the result of poor kicks out of defence which missed touch and resulted in Rochdale simply sweeping back downfield to send first winger Sean Campbell and then lock Thomas Helliwell in at the corner. Collins who had controlled the game superbly for Rochdale converted both tries from the touchline.

After that it was purely a damage limitation exercise for Beverley although to their credit they tried to attack at every opportunity. David Worrall was an inspiration at wing forward and made several superb breaks only to find nobody in support. Gavin Gibson, Francis Pickering, and Dale Hodgson were all prominent from time to time but the backs lacked any punch and in the end simply ran out of ideas. They badly missed the absent Duboulay at fly half and were inexperienced down both flanks. Richard Bussey is an exciting runner but he again looked a good deal less effective in the centre than when he is counter-attacking from full back. Nonetheless Beverley somehow managed to hold out for the remainder of the half and at the death got some consolation with a try by Gardiner which Gill converted to bring a fairly respectable look to the final score. It was never less than an entertaining game but ultimately a disappointing day for Beverley.