Old Brods overcame an early 14 point deficit to secure a bonus point win against Beverley in their season opening fixture in Yorkshire One.

Despite an enthusiastic start which saw second row Alex Murphy come close to opening the Brods account in the early exchanges it was Beverley who scored first. Brods gave away a penalty under the Beverley posts and they broke free and ran in a fantastic length of the field effort. Minutes later they bagged a second when returning Brods Junior Chris Georgiou offering up an easy interception pass and with 14 minutes gone Brods were 14 points behind.

The Woodhead boys were soon back in the match with Michael Briggs profiting from a break by the ever impressive Rob Jennings to crash over and 5 minutes later Danny Chappell broke through to put Chris Georgiou in for his first try of the campaign, Georgiou converting both to level the scores.

Brods were looking good with ball in hand, their new backline combinations bringing out the best in the visitor’s defence, though Brods were soon caught out again when Beverley cut them open to score their third try taking advantage of confusion in the Brods defensive line and despite a Georgiou penalty to reduce the arrears a fourth followed when the Beverley winger danced through in broken play to give the visitors a 28 to 17 halftime lead.

Despite being behind on the scoreboard Brods were finding their feet with Matt Carbutt carrying well in the centres and 8 minutes in they scored the opening try of the second half, a long range effort which saw Briggs touch down for his second following great interplay with Rob Jennings and the ever improving scrumhalf Jimmy Hodkinson.

Rob Jennings got his second of the afternoon taking a precision pass from Chappell to slice through the Beverley line and burst away to put the Brods ahead for the first time, Georgiou slotting his fifth effort of the day to add the extras.

Ackroyd’s men were now looking the fitter and hungrier and despite a yellow for Alex Murphy they were dominating in all phases of the game. Beverley were second best across the park and once they lost their talismanic full back Luke Hazell after a late hit on Chris Georgiou they posed no threat at all. Beverley suffered a second yellow with their number 7, Alfie Hart-Fisher, sitting out the final minutes following a series of cynical penalties. Time ticked away and despite being unable to capitalise on possession and field position to extend their lead Brods were happy to take the win and 5 points into their next match, away at Hullensians.