DMPRFC 26 V BEVERLEY RFC 21

The final score of 26 – 21 would tend to indicate to the onlooker that it was a close game and in the end, that certainly was the case, as DMP held on to a deserved victory.

At one stage, with the score at 26 – 7, Beverley appeared to be well out of it. But to their credit they managed to fight back, due to a combination of their own dogged enterprise and a little help from DMP in the concentration department.

Beverley started the brighter of the two teams and indeed were dominant for the first quarter, with DMP not being able to get any decent ball with which to unleash the potential of the backline. For all their endeavour though, they only managed a converted try, largely due to a determined defence and a lack of penetration on their part.

As soon as ball was obtained, then DMP were off and running literally, with the backs introducing pace and a tempo that Beverley were not able to cope with, producing two converted tries before oranges.

The first was an angled break from Robin Eatough who glided thirty metres for the score, converted by Gavin Painter. The second highlighted the power of Andrew Tonkin (pictured), who seemed to be engulfed by tacklers on their twenty metre line, but who emerged from the melee to score under the posts. Again it was Gavin Painter who slotted the extras.

It was thought that the period of pressure applied on the Beverley line just before oranges would herald another score, but a mixture of good defence and a little impatience on the part of the DMP pack allowed scoring opportunities to evaporate.

At oranges, the half time score of 14 – 7 to DMP may have been kind to Beverley.

Within two minutes of the restart, the momentum was back with DMP, when Gavin Painter interpassed with Matt Goforth for the former to cross the line, but he failed to convert his own try.

Further pressure brought a second try for Robin Eatough, who swept aside several defenders in his wake, as he angled to the posts and an easy conversion from Gavin Painter.

At 26 – 7, it looked as if all would happen would be that DMP would go on to win the game comfortably and increase their scoring tally.

No-one though had informed Beverley of this forecast and as said, to their credit, they fought back with two converted tries and pushed DMP right to the end, when DMP breathed a sigh of relief with the whistle.