Tupai in at the double to sink Sandal as Boro pay price for two red cards at Park

Beverley 33

Sandal 17

BEVERLEY came out on top after an entertaining match which saw both sides contribute to a display of non-stop running rugby.

Sandal got off to a storming start and were seven points up in four minutes with a try by centre Dan McCormack which was converted by fly-half Greg Wood.

Beverley responded with a try in the corner by winger Glen Walden but Wood stretched the Sandal lead to 10-5 with a penalty.

Both sides were running the ball at every opportunity and Beverley captain and flanker David Worrall burst away from a lineout to race unopposed to the line.

Fly-half Phil Duboulay slotted the conversion to put Beverley in front for the first time and they increased the lead with a try in stoppage time from centre Junior Tupai which Duboulay converted.

Early in the second half, Beverley moved further ahead with a converted try by Walden to take them to 26-10. Sandal responded strongly and continued to look dangerous with the ball in their hands but they could find no way past Beverley's excellent defending.

Victory for Beverley was virtually ensured when Tupai touched down for his second converted try after a 70-metre run from near his own line by full-back Chris Harding.

Sandal mounted a late fightback as Beverley went off the boil and centre Dan McCormack crossed for a try which Wood converted but it was too late to give them hope.

Birkenhead Park 35

Middlesbrough 27

LEADING with around 15 minutes remaining, Middlesbrough paid the price for having two players sent off, conceding two late tries.

An altercation mid-way through the second half proved decisive, with Middlesbrough losing two men to red cards, while Birkenhead only received one sin-binning before they fought back to take the win.

Middlesbrough began badly and were 10-0 down after just 10 minutes with Birkenhead scoring a try, conversion and penalty.

But fly-half Simon O'Farrell touched down and converted the try and when No 8 Carl Kirwin crashed over on 25 minutes, they had fought back to a 12-10 lead.

A second try from Kirwin was converted by O'Farrell, and although the hosts scored a try and kicked a penalty, Middlesbrough still led 19-18 at the break.

A penalty put Birkenhead into the lead before the sendings off, but despite that, Middlesbrough retook the lead with O'Farrell kicking a penalty and Kirwin completing his hat-trick on 68 minutes to put his side 27-21 ahead.

But the cracks began to show, and late converted tries on 76 and 79 minutes gave Birkenhead Park the win.

Sheffield Tigers 13

Burton 16

LEADING 13-6 with just a few minutes remaining, Sheffield Tigers were beaten by a strong Burton side as their National DIvision Midlands campaign continued to stutter.

Tigers had looked set for a narrow home victory at Dore Moor but, after they had collapsed a scrum near the try line on several occasions, the referee awarded their rivals a penalty try which pulled them level, and they went on to win with a late drop goal.

Stand-off Joe Wright had given Tigers a good start with a penalty after eight minutes, but Burton hit back to lead 6-3 at half-time with stand-off Ian Gilmore kicking penalties on 19 and 24 minutes.

Flanker Andy Barnes touched down after good pressure resulting from a lineout catch and drive took them near to the line, and Wright added the conversion to put the South Yorkshire side 10-6 ahead.

Centre Tom Outram kicked a penalty on 67 minutes to put Tigers 13-6 ahead, and they had high hopes of holding on to that lead.

But the penalty try on 79 minutes was converted by Harry Titley, who also kicked a drop goal in the 86th minute to claim a late victory.

Bradford and Bingley 22

Lymm 41

TWENTY tries and 128 points have been scored in the last two games at Wagon Lane.

There has been a feast of running rugby but most of it has been straight through a very porous home defence.

This defeat was the third on the bounce for the Bees, even though the forwards continue to provide a solid enough platform and win most of the battles up front.

The Bees started brightly and flanker Tom Cokell went over for an opportunist score, taking the ball from a quick lineout to power over, Gavin Stead converting.

Lymm's response was immediate as winger Andy Rowley crossed.

The Bees sneaked into the lead with half-time approaching as man of the match James Holland wrestled his way over in the 36th minute.

The visitors' response was almost instant as centre Adam Fletcher zipped over in stoppage time and Rowley converted to make it 12-12.

Lymm scored with their touch of the ball in the second half as Ben Greaves's offload was plucked out of the air by Andy Roberts, who had just enough pace to make the line as the home defence tracked back.

The Bees then capitalised on the sin-binning of Lymm replacement Mark Sutton in the 48th minute, flanker Guy Ford almost scoring before Holland did touch down for his second try.

This, however, was the end of the Bees resistance as Lymm galloped into an unassailable lead with tries by Fletcher and replacements John Bishop and James Boaden, Rowley converting all three and adding a penalty.

There was a final bright spot for the now beleaguered home side as scrum-half Mark Gemmell accelerated away from the Lymm defence from fully 60 metres to snake his way to the line almost as regulation time expired.

Things are not expected to get any easier for the Bees as they travel to Darlington next, then host table-toppers Chester the week after.