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Date :22/01/2005; Venue : Sharmans Cross Road
Kick off = 2:00 pm

Pertemps Bees 38 - Orrell 25

Team 15 Dave Knight 14 Simon Hunt 13 Scott Williams 12 Shaun Woof 11 Nick Baxter 10 Tim Walsh 9 Paul Knight 1 Martin O'Keefe 2 Matt Miles 3 Matt Long 4 Rob Hurrell 5 Rob Walton 6 Luke Narraway 7 Tom Jordan 8 Jim Jenner (captain).	Replacements Andrew Le Chevalier Rob Merritt Ben Hughes Hese Fakatou Alex Davidson Ryan Lamb Tom Richardson.

It is not often that a side scored six tries and still count themselves fortunate to have escaped with victory. But that was the case for Pertemps Bees at Sharmans Cross Road.
They required a typical long range try from Nick Baxter, his second of the match and 137th of his career in league rugby, to end a spirited challenge from Orrell who belied their lowly status to play a full part in an entertaining game played in bitterly cold weather.
The significance of the match was reflected in the perfromances of the respective teams. For the Bees it was a game that carried little importance and they produced some carefree, at times slapdash, rugby before Baxter secured victory.
Every game is important for Orrell in their desperate attempt to avoid relegation and they produced a tight, focused game which was described by their coach Mark Nelson as their best of the season.
For the Bees it was a performance which answered few questions for the coaching staff. The only part of the game that functioned well throughout was the ,line out where Matt Miles was spot-on with his throwing and Jim Jenner, Rob Hurrell and Rob Walton won a plentiful supply of possession.
Other parts of the Bees' game worked well for a time but then broke down allowing Orrell to feed off their mistakes.
It was a helter-skelter contest with Baxter opening the account after just three minutes with a well-taken try in which he easily beat off two tacklers and crossed for an uncoverted try.
But Orrell were in front within four minutes when Warren Spragg intercepted a Paul Knight pass on half way and raced unopposed to the posts to leave James Moore with an easy conversion.
Back came the Bees with a lovely try created by Miles' break and finished by Luke Narraway for his second try in three games and Tim Walsh added the conversion. But the Bees had difficulty in subduing Orrell who used their driving maul to effect.
Patient approach work created space for winger Oliver Viney to run in Orrell's second try and Moore's conversion gave the Lancastrians a two point lead which was rubbed out when Tom Jordan scythed through the middle and delivered a perfectly-weighted pass to the outstanding Miles who had the pace and power to finish off the move.
A Moore penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 17-17 which became 17-20 when he tacked on another after 54 minutes which ended a perioid of brave defence from Orrell who repelled a series of close range attacks.
But the Bees pressure was rewarded when Dave Knight went over unpposed after 59 minutes and Walsh converted and then former Bristol winger Simon Hunt marked his debut by crossing after Paul Knight put him clear.
Walsh added the conversion which proved important as Orrell responded with a series of drives from close range line-outs that put the Bees under such pressure that they were forced to concede a penalty try which Moore, in an attempt to get the game re-started quickly, dropped kicked under the crossbar.
Orrell appeared to have secured a bonus point until Baxter capitalised on their desperate attempts to run everything and scored another poacher's try.
To add to Orrell's misery their team coach would not re-start and they had to wait for a replacement to be sent from Wigan. Their tird players were treated to free beer and fish and chips by Bees supporters and the hospitality was appreciated by a tired group of players who finally set off for home just before 9.30pm.