Beverley Win Ray Speckman Memorial Cup

BEVERLEY staged a thrilling second-half revival to beat Cottingham Tigers 28-18 to lift the Ray Speckman Memorial Cup at a sun-drenched Haworth Park.

Trailing 18-6 at the interval, the trophy seemed to be heading towards Cottingham but Rich Shaw's inspirational team talk paid second-half dividends with Beverley scoring 22 unanswered points.

But the celebrations were marred after centre Craig Hancock suffered a suspected compound leg fracture in the dying seconds.

Both sides were locked in a war of attrition before Liam Lane opened the scoring for Beverley in the 15th minute.

Some suspect defence and a string of penalties saw the initiative switch to Cottingham who registered three converted tries.

But four forwards on the bench meant Shaw could rotate his forwards, which paid dividends late on when Tigers began to tire in the heat.

The fightback began early in the second half when Hancock, a constant danger all afternoon, made a typically bustling run only to be pulled up short.

A quick play the ball saw the ball shipped out to the wing for Craig Hamlet to score in the corner. The momentum continued when man-of-the-match Pete Newton had the ball pinched after yet another good run.

The resultant penalty saw more pressure applied and Mike Northen, playing his first game for over two years, scattered the defenders and Matt Bielby was on hand to score beneath the posts.

The conversion reduced the arrears to 18-16.

Beverley nearly took the lead minutes later when some good handing saw the ball shipped to the right for Lee Falcus to head for the corner only to put a foot in touch at the last moment. Cottingham showed their frustration and had two players sent to the sin bin for foul play.

Gavin Proctor gave the blue and golds the lead from close range, despite the attention of several defenders.

The conversion was added but the restart kick went dead forcing a line drop out immediately sending Cottingham on the attack.

They continued to get repeat sets inside Beverley's 20m zone and it took some heroic defence to keep Cottingham out.

But the silverware was finally sealed with five minutes to go when Hancock's run sent Proctor over for his second try and his 17th of the season.