Beaten in a friendly game (5)
I believe the answer is:
mated
This clue might be a double definition.
'beaten in' is the first definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'a friendly game' is the second definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mated that I've seen before include "Defeated in game" , "Joined, connected" , "given match" , "had sex" .)