Skipton were beaten 29-10 by table topping Beverley at Sandylands,but the seriously-weakened team performed valiantly.

As early as the first minute the visitors took the lead when impressive fly-half Andrew Posa converted a penalty, but Skipton fought back and skipper Mark Davison was held up close to the line.

The pressure continued and Beverley were very lucky not to see a player carded for a dangerous spear tackle, although Mike Richards equalised from the resultant penalty.

The referee then saw fit to yellow card Skipton second-row forward Graham Newhouse following an innocuous looking ruck and Beverley immediately used their numerical advantage to create the space for full-back Graham Barnes to score a try which was converted by Posa.

Only a forward pass prevented Beverley from extending the lead, but with Newhouse re-instated, Skipton took the game to the league leaders.

Eventually, following a spell of good pressure, on 37 minutes scrum-half Grant Litt dummied his way over and with Richards converting, the scores were level at 10-10.

Unfortunately the Skipton pack made a bit of a hash of the re-start and were unable to clear the ball, allowing Barnes to score his second try on the stroke of half time to give Beverley a five-point lead.

At the start of the second half a good break from left wing Matthew Cox saw Skipton eventually receive a penalty, but Richards was unable to convert.

On 53 minutes a quickly-taken penalty by Beverley saw scrum-half Ian Archibald scamper over for a try which was converted by Posa to open up a 24-10 lead. Within seven minutes they had made the game safe when referee Mr Lumb seemed to miss a knock-on from a relieving kick and Beverley quickly transferred the ball to the opposite wing for Umberto Cuozzo to score wide out.

Although Posa missed the conversion, a 19-point lead was always going to be enough to win the game.

Skipton did look as if they might narrow the gap, but Mr Lumb blew up for the ball being held up over the line just as the ball appeared in Davison's hands.

Although Skipton pressed the Beverley line at times in the second-half, they lacked a cutting edge in the backs and never seemed that likely to close the gap.

On the credit side, newcomer Chuck Kepa made a number of telling breaks and seems likely to be a player who will make a big impact at the club.The forwards played impressively as a unit, with the front row of Nathan Tiffen, Gareth Hindle and Andrew Webb always keen for action.

Although the Reds would be sore at suffering another defeat, there were more than enough signs of better times ahead in this performance.

The return of some key players in the next few weeks, together with this much-improved forward display, should be enough to generate confidence in the side for the rest of the season.