Bees lose season curtain raiser against an relisient Syston

A lacklustre first half performance left the Bees with too much to do to win their opening game against Syston However credit should also be given to the visitors from Leicestershire for their astute tactical kicking and clinical finishing, which gave them a well-deserved half-time lead.

Syston started the game with more urgency than Bees and territorially had the better of the opening exchanges. After 8 minutes, Adam Turner crashed through some weak Bees tackling to score a try; James Morgan slotted home the straightforward conversion.

Bees problems were compounded when the restart failed to travel 10 metres. This gave the impetus back to Syston who were soon on the attack again. They moved the ball skillfully across the pitch for Ed Lorriman to go over in the corner. James Morgan narrowly failed to add the extra points, hitting the post with the conversion. With just 12 minutes on the clock, the home side were already trailing by 12 points.

Bees were forced to up their game and were able to keep possession through a number of phases. For the first time in the match they threatened the Syston line and second row Matt Spink was able to go under the posts for a try near the end of the first quarter. Jack Jolly adding the extra 2 points with a successful conversion.

Although, Bees were reduced to 14 men when winger Chris Fensome was yellow carded, they were beginning to find their rhythm. Syston's Andy Jones was shown yellow not long afterwards.

It was Syston, however, who scored next. Having seen an earlier penalty attempt fall short, James Morgan made no mistake after 36 minutes giving his side a 15-7 lead.

With half time approaching, Bees were awarded a penalty, which they kicked to touch. Subsequently, Bees moved the ball along the line with real purpose and a try looked a certainty only for James Morgan to intercept and sprint 80 metres to score Syston’s third try. Morgan’s boot duly added the extras, giving the visitors a 22-7 half-time lead.

Bees started the second half at a much higher tempo and were soon rewarded for their efforts when Matt Spink scored his and Bees second try in the corner. Jolly was unsuccessful with the conversion.

Around the 50-minute mark, Syston were penalised for feeding the scrum. Bees kicked for touch and from the resulting play set-up a rolling maul. No.8 Steve Leach got the ball over the line and with the Jolly conversion, Bees had cut the deficit to just 3 points.

Syston doubled their lead with a Morgan penalty just before the end of the 3rd quarter, but more Bees pressure yielded a score for Steve Johns and, in doing so, earning Ian Matthews’s side a try bonus point. Jolly was unable to put over the difficult conversion, but the Bees were now trailing by just a single point at 24-25. Syston were kicking away too much ball and the Bees were able to gain significant yardage by running the ball at them.

However with less than 10 minutes to go, Jolly was shown Bees second yellow card of the day. Syston were able to make the most of their numerical advantage when Andy Jones was able to force his way over for his side’s fourth try with 5 minutes remaining. Morgan added the extra points with a well-taken conversion. There were no further scores, despite Bees frantic efforts in the closing minutes. The final whistle was blown with Bees camped near the Syston line, with the final scoreline Bees 24 Syston 32.

Bees second half showing was significantly better than in the first 40 minutes. At times they were able to keep the ball moving at pace with some excellent handling skills. Overall, the scrum was good throughout the game, and the line-out showed signs of improvement after a shaky start. Two yellow cards certainly did not help Bees’ cause and the team probably turned over more ball than the coaches would have liked.

Syston were worthy winners of Midlands 1 East in 2014/15, winning 25 of their 26 games. Everyone at Portway will be hoping for similar form this season as the Bees look to engineer a return to Level 4 Rugby. They have an opportunity to get back on track against local rivals Bromsgrove at Portway next Saturday 12 September, kick off 3pm.