Match Reports
Morley win away
Friday 7th March 2008 10:23AM
Beverley 13 Morley RFC 27
MORLEY'S long awaited first away win of the season arrived as they proved too good for bottom of the table Beverley on Saturday.
MORLEY'S long awaited first away win of the season arrived as they proved too good for bottom of the table Beverley on Saturday.
Knowing they needed a win to realistically keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop, the Maroons tore into their opponents from the start and a superb opening spell paved the way for a morale-boosting success.
On a bright, cold day it was Beverley who had a strong wind behind them in first half, but Morley were straight on to the attack. The pressure told as good forward drives and quick recycling ended when Jon Hampsey went round his man on the left wing to take his try tally to an incredible 17 in the league this season. Fly half Dave Evans added the difficult conversion and it was 7-0.
Four minutes later it was 14-0 as right wing Michael Ash and centre Mark Pease combined well down the right to set up a maul. Scrum half Mark Chester then emerged with the ball and joyfully ran in to score against an absent defence behind the posts. Evans made no mistake with the conversion.
With a big early lead established, Morley relaxed and Beverley began to gain possession. Backed by the strong wind and silly indiscipline, they began to look dangerous and from a scrum, a pick up and drive by number eight James McKay saw him force his way over for a try which went unconverted.
The home side were now more confident and Morley's efforts were spoilt by conceding needless penalties. Beverley scrum half Ian Archibald kicked one of them on the half hour to reduce the arrears to six points.
Realising there was still a job to be done the Maroons began to get back on top towards the end of the half and some good work by the forwards led to the award of a penalty which Evans duly kicked to move the score along to 17-8 at half-time.
The wind dropped somewhat in the second half, but it was still in Morley's favour and fly half Evans used it intelligently to keep the visitors on top.
They were on the attack from the restart and six minutes in were awarded another penalty for offside. Up stepped Dave Evans again and he made no mistake to stretch the lead to 20-8.
Again penalties were spoiling good work and allowing Beverley to clear their lines. On 54 minutes from one penalty, a quick tap caught Morley asleep and scrum half Archibald set McKay free to score his second try of the day. Archibald failed with the conversion attempt, but his side were back in it just seven points behind.
McKay went from hero to villain on 59 minutes when he was sent to the sin-bin for handling in a ruck just once too often and this was Morley's chance to get back on top. They put the squeeze on and replacement forward Craig Rika and Craig Field both went close.
On 65 minutes they were rewarded as centres Pete Murphy and Pease combined to make a good break. Recycled ball gave hooker Leon Treco a glimmer of a chance after he popped up on the wing and he was over for a match-clinching try. An excellent touchline conversion followed from Evans who made it five out of five kicks for the day and the Maroons were 27-13 ahead.
All that was left now was for Morley to get a fourth try which would have given them a vital bonus point. Although they lost Rika to the sin-bin for 10 minutes for a technical offence, they remained on top to the finish, but battered away in vain as forwards Garth Dodgson, Paul Gabriel and Simon Chippendale all came within inches of scoring.
Beverley: Hope; Cuozzo, Riby-French, Gardiner, Terrett; Duboulay, Archibald; Smith, Yorke, Armitage, Hancock, Gibson, Craig, Worrall, McKay. Replacements: Henderson, Dale, Hatfield (used), Pickering (unused).
Morley: S Evans; Ash, Pease, Murphy, Hampsey; D Evans, Chester; Gabriel, Treco, Benn, Challinor, Chippendale, Field, Hewetson, Spence. Replacements: Rika, Dodgson, Gray (used), Benton (unused).
Referee: S Walters
Scorers: Beverley: Tries, McKay 2. Penalty, Archibald. Morley: Tries, Hampsey, Chester, Treco. Conversions, D Evans 3. Penalties, D Evans 2
On a bright, cold day it was Beverley who had a strong wind behind them in first half, but Morley were straight on to the attack. The pressure told as good forward drives and quick recycling ended when Jon Hampsey went round his man on the left wing to take his try tally to an incredible 17 in the league this season. Fly half Dave Evans added the difficult conversion and it was 7-0.
Four minutes later it was 14-0 as right wing Michael Ash and centre Mark Pease combined well down the right to set up a maul. Scrum half Mark Chester then emerged with the ball and joyfully ran in to score against an absent defence behind the posts. Evans made no mistake with the conversion.
With a big early lead established, Morley relaxed and Beverley began to gain possession. Backed by the strong wind and silly indiscipline, they began to look dangerous and from a scrum, a pick up and drive by number eight James McKay saw him force his way over for a try which went unconverted.
The home side were now more confident and Morley's efforts were spoilt by conceding needless penalties. Beverley scrum half Ian Archibald kicked one of them on the half hour to reduce the arrears to six points.
Realising there was still a job to be done the Maroons began to get back on top towards the end of the half and some good work by the forwards led to the award of a penalty which Evans duly kicked to move the score along to 17-8 at half-time.
The wind dropped somewhat in the second half, but it was still in Morley's favour and fly half Evans used it intelligently to keep the visitors on top.
They were on the attack from the restart and six minutes in were awarded another penalty for offside. Up stepped Dave Evans again and he made no mistake to stretch the lead to 20-8.
Again penalties were spoiling good work and allowing Beverley to clear their lines. On 54 minutes from one penalty, a quick tap caught Morley asleep and scrum half Archibald set McKay free to score his second try of the day. Archibald failed with the conversion attempt, but his side were back in it just seven points behind.
McKay went from hero to villain on 59 minutes when he was sent to the sin-bin for handling in a ruck just once too often and this was Morley's chance to get back on top. They put the squeeze on and replacement forward Craig Rika and Craig Field both went close.
On 65 minutes they were rewarded as centres Pete Murphy and Pease combined to make a good break. Recycled ball gave hooker Leon Treco a glimmer of a chance after he popped up on the wing and he was over for a match-clinching try. An excellent touchline conversion followed from Evans who made it five out of five kicks for the day and the Maroons were 27-13 ahead.
All that was left now was for Morley to get a fourth try which would have given them a vital bonus point. Although they lost Rika to the sin-bin for 10 minutes for a technical offence, they remained on top to the finish, but battered away in vain as forwards Garth Dodgson, Paul Gabriel and Simon Chippendale all came within inches of scoring.
Beverley: Hope; Cuozzo, Riby-French, Gardiner, Terrett; Duboulay, Archibald; Smith, Yorke, Armitage, Hancock, Gibson, Craig, Worrall, McKay. Replacements: Henderson, Dale, Hatfield (used), Pickering (unused).
Morley: S Evans; Ash, Pease, Murphy, Hampsey; D Evans, Chester; Gabriel, Treco, Benn, Challinor, Chippendale, Field, Hewetson, Spence. Replacements: Rika, Dodgson, Gray (used), Benton (unused).
Referee: S Walters
Scorers: Beverley: Tries, McKay 2. Penalty, Archibald. Morley: Tries, Hampsey, Chester, Treco. Conversions, D Evans 3. Penalties, D Evans 2
© Tony Harber Morley Observer & advertiser
