| MATCH REPORTs BEES (A) 10 - 33 PLYMOUTH ALBION |
| Saturday 5th September 2009 |
The opening game of the season - twenty minutes gone and Bees were not only scoreless, but down to fourteen men with two players already having been replaced through injury...not quite the start the visitors were looking for!
With influential hooker Ben Phillips and summer signing PJ Gidlow both crocked, the tentative start the Bees initially made refused to settle, a multitude of wayward passes and simple tactical misjudgments rooting the visitors whilst Plymouth grabbed the points as they were offered. Fly-half Kieran Hallett comfortably slotting two penalties and a conversion following Ben Mercer's tidy first-half finish (whilst Bees right wing Tal Selley was in the sin-bin). Half-time: 0-13.
Eight minutes into the second half a yellow card for replacement hooker George Thomas followed Selley's and although Hallett nicked another three points further heavy damage was avoided until fullback Geoff Griffiths extended his sides' lead on sixty-two minutes, a floated pass from Hallett the inspiration for his touchdown. Russell Earnshaw from No. 8 attempted to breathe life into his young side, leading by example in the loose and in defence whilst Mark Woodrow gave his side some hope after a well constructed series of plays enabled the diminutive fly-half to scamper over (10-21) but a third card from referee Luke Pearce, this one a red, was enough to sink the Bees' battleship, when prop Darren O'Reilly was sent from the field for a retaliatory punch.
Plymouth took full advantage in Bees reduction to cross for two late, last minute tries to partially flatter the scoreline. That O'Reilly had been on the end of a number of illegal strikes within the confines of the scrum for much of his time on the field was all the more galling but with the rub of the green not favouring the Bees, the Irishman had to walk and with him went any chance of points, small or large.
“We didn’t play well” player/head coach Russell Earnshaw admitted “...Plymouth played the way we were expecting but we made too many basic errors. Our forwards were defending Plymouth’s driving lineouts well but we missed two tackles that let them in for their first try.”
With some positives to take from the result - "..we had ten guys who had never played at this level before – now they have" - Earnshaw must quickly put his frustrations behind him ahead of welcoming Bristol to Sharmans Cross Road (Saturday 12th September 2009) for round two of the Championship.
To see Bees versus Plymouth Albion match photography click here.
Action timeline |
|||||||
| Team | BEES SCORER |
TYPE |
TIME |
TYPE |
OPPOSITION SCORER |
SCORE |
|
| 1. Matt Long | 20 |
P |
Hallett |
0-3 |
|||
| 2. Ben Phillips | 28 |
T |
Mercer |
0-8 |
|||
| 3. Craig Voisey | 29 |
C |
Hallett |
0-10 |
|||
| 4. Alex Davidson | 36 |
P |
Hallett |
0-13 |
|||
| 5. Shaun Pammenter | |||||||
| 6. Chris Brightwell | Woodrow |
P |
44 |
3-13 |
|||
| 7. Rob Connolly (c) | 48 |
P |
Hallett |
3-16 |
|||
| 8. Russell Earnshaw | 62 |
T |
Griffiths |
3-21 |
|||
Woodrow |
T |
72 |
8-21 |
||||
| 9. Sam Brown | Woodrow |
C |
72 |
10-21 |
|||
| 10. Mark Woodrow | 79 |
T |
Hotston |
10-26 |
|||
| 11. Mitch Culpin | 80 |
T |
Davies |
10-31 |
|||
| 12. PJ Gidlow | 80 |
C |
Hallett |
10-33 |
|||
| 13. Will Lawson | |||||||
| 14. Tal Selley | |||||||
| 15. Will Martin | |||||||
| 16. Darren O'Reilly (Voisey 64) | |||||||
| 17. Leo Halavatau (Pammenter 64) | |||||||
| 18. George Thomas (Phillips 9) | |||||||
| 19. Adam Clayton | |||||||
| 20. Ryan Tomlinson (Gidlow 20) | |||||||
| 21. Jimmy Williams | |||||||
| 22. Rod Petty (Culpin 68) | |||||||
END