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Date :03/02/2007 : Venue : SXR
Kick off = 14:00pm
Pertemps Bees 28 Plymouth Albion 20
Pertemps Bees produced their best 40 minutes of the season
to blitz Plymouth Albion and secure maximum points with a famous win at Sharmans
Cross Road.
The Bees stunned Albion by wrapping up a bonus point before the break. They
scored three tries in a ten minutes purple patch and denied Albion a sniff of
a try themselves with superb discipline which denied the full-timers an opportunity
to employ their effective driving maul during the first half.
It was a different story after the break as Plymouth scored three tries in five
minutes while the Bees were reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of prop Neil
Fowkes. Two of them were scored by flanker Danny Thomas after Plymouth used
a ten man maul to shunt the Bees backwards.
But the Bees regrouped, regained their control and denied Plymouth only their
second win in five visits to Sharmans Cross Road when replacement fly-half Jon
Higgins slotted a 77th minute penalty.
"We stopped playing in the second half and we stopped doing what we said
we were going to do which was a little disappointing," said Bees' head
coach Steve Williams.
"We want to move on to the next stage. I am not happy with us avoiding
relegation or being mid-table. I want us to be as good as we can be so it's
a case of setting high standards.
"But, given the injuries we have got and the difficulties we have had in
selection recently, it was still a very pleasing result.
"In the first half we achieved most of what we wanted to do. We made very
few mistakes, we executed most of our tasks well and we were very disciplined
which stopped them getting into areas where they could get their rolling maul
going."
Akapusi Qera and Leo Halavatau were disruptive influences in attack for the
Bees but it was props Fowkes and Matt Long who deserve particularly credit for
playing most of the game. Long lasted the full 80 minutes in his comeback after
three weeks out with a calf injury and worked tirelessly to frustrate Plymouth's
much-vaunted pack.
Conditions were perfect for running rugby and the Bees took the opportunity
to express themselves after Rod Petty and David Delaney had traded early penalties.
A superb handling move in which Simon Martin featured prominently led to Matt
Nuthall slicing through from the left for the opening try after 12 minutes.
The Bees gave Plymouth a taste of their own medicine when Halavatau rounded
off a sustained attack by the pack to claim the second try before Plymouth knocked
on near half way and the Bees were quick to turn defence into attack.
Jon Goodridge wriggled free on the left and kicked ahead. Two Plymouth defenders
converged on the ball and one of them appeared to have got a hand to it though
not with sufficient downward pressure to satisfy referee Adrian Hartwell. Goodridge
followed up to get the important touchdown and Petty added the extras to give
the Bees a 17 points lead.
Plymouth looked stunned and conceded another try on the half hour when the Bees
won a line-out and rumbled Qera over for an unconverted try which clinched the
bonus point.
The Bees lost their shape for a time in the second half and also began to concede
penalties, the cumulative effect of which was Fowles' sin-binning. Plymouth
exploited their numerical advantage when Thomas was twice driven over and a
swift counter-attack was finished by full-back Nat Saumi.
But Bees' captain Mark Cornwell got a grip on his side and the game in the final
quarter. Sensible percentages rugby kept Plymouth out of the home 22 and the
Bees mamanged to exert sufficient pressure to force Plymouth to concede a penalty
in front of the posts which Higgins slotted to deny Albion their first win of
2007 and the consolation of a losing bonus point.
ELLOWAY ON BENCH FOR PLYMOUTH GAME (February
2 2007)
Pertemps Bees have named Gloucester hooker Rob Elloway as a replacement for
their National League One game against Plymouth Albion at Sharmans Cross Road
on Saturday February 3 (2pm).
Elloway has joined Pertemps Bees on a short-term loan as cover for Stewart Pearl
who broke a hand in last weekend's defeat at Rotherham. It is the second time
that Elloway has been loaned to Pertemps Bees by Gloucester, following a stint
two years ago, and he will provide back-up to Matt Miles, the club's only other
fit specialist hooker, against Plymouth.
Leo Halavatau returns to the back-row because Will Matthews has suffered a recurrence
of a hamstring injury and Australia sevens international Rod Petty will continue
at fly-half because Jon Higgins is still recovering from the illness that forced
him to miss the Rotherham defeat. But Higgins has recovered sufficiently to
be named as a replacement.
Prop Matt Long has recovered from the calf injury that has kept him sidelined
since the win over Moseley three weeks ago. Brendan Lynch, the club's only other
fit prop, has been named as a replacement.
Pertemps Bees: 15 Jon Goodridge; 14 Matt Nuthall, 13 Tristan Davies,
12 Simon Martin, 11 Brodie Henderson; 10 Rod Petty, 9 Reece Spee; 1 Neil Fowkes,
2 Matt Miles, 3 Matt Long, 4 Mark Gabey, 5 Mark Cornwell (captain), 6 Dean Miller,
7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Leo Halavatau. Replacements: Alex Davidson, Brendan Lynch,
Mark George, Rob Elloway, Will Matthews, Mike Baxter, Jon Higgins.
| Team
15 Jon Goodridge 1 Neil Fowkes |
Replacements
Alex Davidson |
 |