Beavers are sitting top of the tree at Christmas time
Morpeth 10
Beverley 54
BEVERLEY opened the second half of their league campaign in fine style.
Morpeth for the second time this season were unlucky to come up against them when they were in a rampant mood. One breathtaking try simply followed another.
The young home side stuck at it bravely and never gave up but they were never able to come to terms with the experience and sheer pace of the visitors who exuded confidence in all areas.
Beverley kicked off under a grey Northumberland sky and were 15 points up in as many minutes.
Phil Duboulay got them on their way with a penalty after three minutes, Tomasi Tanumi touched down in the corner and James Holland forced his way over for a second try when Morpeth conceded a scrum on their own line.
Beverley were in full flow and already a big score looked on the cards.
Morpeth were never allowed to get going and could make little impact, especially outside the scrum where their runners were nearly always cut down before they could cross the gain line.
Beverley in contrast looked likely to score whenever they ran the ball, and they ran it from anywhere.
Their support play was terrific and their passing lightning quick. Few sides in the league could have lived with them in this form.
Holland added another try on 25 minutes when he picked up and stormed over after Beverley took a ball against the head five metres out.
James Phillips kicked a penalty for Morpeth to get them going but on the stroke of half time Junior Tupai gathered a lovely high kick to the corner from Tom Steadman and touched down for Beverley’s fourth try.
A red card for Sam Kerry after a brief fracas left Beverley a man short for the whole of the second half but they made light of it.
They turned round 25-3 up and quickly added another 12 points.
The first try, in the first minute of the half when they ran the ball from their own line, was the highlight of the day.
Duboulay made a lovely break, Lee Birch carried it on and terrific interplay in midfield left Sam Atiola racing clear for 40 metres to the posts.
This try on its own made the long journey to Northumberland worthwhile.
Two tries in the space of a minute from Leki Atiola and Steadman took Beverley to 44 points with a quarter of the game still left.
Morpeth however stuck at it and deservedly got a try when prop Karl Campbell crashed over with Phillips adding the conversion.
Up front Morpeth gave it everything in attack but they could seldom escape the clutches of the Beverley back row of David Worrall, Joe Picketts and Holland.
Manu Kirkwood and Alex Ogilvie both had splendid games. On one occasion Kirkwood broke clear and found himself facing the alarming prospect of a 50-metre sprint to the line but luckily support suddenly appeared at his shoulder.
Holland went over for his third try and Sam Atiola added another to take Beverley over the 50-point mark.
They would have had yet another had Leki Atiola not foolishly indulged in some triumphalist posturing as he raced over. He was rightly penalised and hopefully it will be a salutory lesson.
Triumphalism of this sort appears to be acceptable in international rugby but is totally out of place in club rugby where a more sportsmanlike attitude is expected.
An unusual feature of the match was the rare off-day Duboulay had with his kicking, slotting only four of his nine conversion attempts. But it was of little consequence.
Beverley can now look forward to Christmas with 13 wins out of 14 under their belt, and 45 points or more notched up in over half of them.
In only one match have they failed to get a bonus point.
All this and 10 points clear at the top of the league at Christmas. You cannot ask for more than that.
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Weather for Beverley
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
