10th November 2007 - Hull Ionians Hawks 58 Beverley A  7 -  Yorkshire Premier League      Photos

After struggling for numbers several weeks ago the return of players from injury continues giving the Hawks an embarrassment of riches.  The back line in particular was almost completely made up of players with first team experience.  First Team Coach Mick Watson must have been impressed with the back up he has for the first team in almost every position.
Beverley defended well and competed fiercely for the ball on the floor throughout the game but when Ionians upped the pace they had no answer.  The first try was a while coming until the backs combined to put the impressive Danny Waddy in at the corner.  Shortly afterwards man of the match Karl Birch proved that his rehabilitation is complete when he waltzed past several defenders to score under the posts leaving Rich Moorhouse with an easy conversion.  Two more tries were scored before half time when first prop Kyle Hall showed good support play to power over, and then Rich Moorhouse handed off tacklers before running round nearer to the posts, to give himself an easy conversion for a 24 - 0 half time lead.
At the break Tom Boyle replaced Charlie Bargh at scrum half, Rob Owen came on for Danny Ulliot, and Ally Forth replaced Tom Rice. The Hawks stepped up the pace of the game and it wasn’t long before good inter-passing put Rich Moorhouse in again. The forwards were making good yardage with individual runs by Angelo Irving and Martin Carew, and also driving mauls with Andy Gravell and Richard Hill at the heart of everything. The next try came from a forward drive which scrum half Tom Boyle joined in to dot the ball down for his first try of the season.

Beverley showed good spirit to come back and put the Hawks under pressure and were rewarded with a close range try.  The Hawks immediately cancelled this out when Kyle Hall finished off another forward drive to become the Hawks top try scorer with six tries.  The coaching of Greg Bone showed benefits as the backs displayed great handling to put Gary Stephenson in for a brace of tries.  Rob Owen took over the kicking duties and showed what a good boot he has, slotting a kick from the touch line to take the score past the fifty mark.
There was just time for Angelo Irving to score his customary try when he reached out a telescopic left arm to reach the line, Rob Owen again kicked from wide out to complete the scoring.
After two comfortable home victories the resurgent Hawks face a real test to their credentials next week when they travel to play Otley II.