Former Bees Age Grade Chairman Ian Edwards kindly gives his perspective on Sunday's fantastic win by the Bees senior squad 33 - 18 against Aston Old Edwardians:

Sunday saw Bees finish off their season in style with a win against Aston Old Edwardians RFC in the final of the North Midlands Vase .

An early kick off of 11.15am meant the Bees squad assembling at Portway for bacon rolls and porridge at 8.30 am.

The lads were in good spirits for their short coach journey to Worcester RFC for North Mids Finals day.

Aston Old Eds had finished their season mid table in the league above Bees and had beaten Market Drayton to reach the final.

The Bees coaching team and players were well aware that this was likely to be a tough physical encounter against a team who were powerful and would run straight and hard.

A large crowd were basking in the sunshine as the game kicked off.

Bees started well with a period of sustained pressure playing up the slight incline. This culminated in Lewis Edwards taking 3 points from a penalty.

With some quick hands and strong running Aston broke away and scored in the corner making it 3-5.

There then ensued an arm wrestle in the middle of the pitch with both teams applying pressure but being unable to break through.

Some good kicking out of hand allowed Bees to alleviate pressure, keeping the opposition in their half.

There were two more penalties successfully kicked for Bees by Lewis Edwards and two for Aston, before a powerful run close to the Aston line by James Shackleton Jnr gave Bees their first try, converted by Lewis Edwards.

The second half started and Bees were keen to use the slope to keep the intensity going, the team had lost Bradley Sinclair (dislocated shoulder) and Jonnie Mills (foot injury), two of their big ball carriers. The plan now seemed to be to use the ball and spread play around.
Some sustained pressure in the corner of the pitch lead to Ollie Sanderson crossing the line with some fancy footwork for Bees second try; 21-11 to Bees

Aston bounced back with some good hands of their own scoring under the posts making it 21-18.

The Bees faithful were pleased to see the running prop Ryan Sleaford take the ball 10m out and crash over the line to extend the lead to 26-18.

By now the sun was fully out, and the marauding Pete Gordon took his chance throwing a dummy and dashing over the line to score just before full time. Lewis Edwards converted and the final whistle blew.

A 33-18 victory for Bees.

Man of the match – Lewis Edwards
Duck of the day – Tom Cain

Thanks to Aston who were the toughest team we had played all season.

A fantastic way to end the campaign , a league and cup double for what is a very young team .

A big thank you the players , coaching team, volunteers and supporters who have made it such a memorable season.

The team have travelled nearly 700 miles fulfilling fixtures this season , but they have loved every second.

I’m sure pre season training starts soon !!!

The picture, provided by Ian, shows prop Ryan Sleaford, kicking coach Keith Scott, & fly-half Lewis Edwards with the Vase.