Normal service restored at Sandbach?

A grey, rain-swept afternoon up in south Cheshire was the stage for the Bees to finally gel and deliver an emphatic winning performance that ended a winless six match run and deliver a potential launch pad to begin their ascent from the nether regions of National League 3 Midlands.

Debutants Aaron Wilson at inside centre and fly half Mitch McGahan both made significant individual contributions as well as, crucially, providing the “plug-in and play” interface between forwards and backs that has been missing for most of the season so far.

It was Sandbach who, against the run of play, got on the scoreboard first, with centre Elliot Morris nicking an interception try from a speculative pass from McGahan with 15 minutes on the clock. In an exception that proves the rule that forwards should never kick, blindside flanker George Bordhill duly added the conversion.

McGahan was soon to atone for his error, slotting a penalty just four minutes later, after some good work at the scrum by his forwards – an ascendency in the set-piece that was to continue all afternoon.

It was then the visitors’ turn to profit from an interception – good pressing of the Sandbach back three allowed Ian Briggs to bag the stray pass and feed his wing partner Alex O’Malley, who had the pace and strength to finish the try. McGahan’s conversion was good again and the Bees were now ahead 3-10 on the 20 minute-mark.

The Bees went patiently through the phases for the next 10 minutes, only to be repelled by a resolute Sandbach defence. The pendulum was to seemingly swing back in the Cheshire sides’ favour with a Bodrill penalty after 30 minutes to level the scores, with the Bees then reduced to 13 men after yellow cards were shown to both Kiwi debutants in quick succession.

Aaron Wilson was adjudged to late-tackle Sandbach’s Mark Bird - the speed at which the fledgling scrum half went down was matched only by his subsequent restoration to full health, suggesting untapped potential should he ever wish to pursue a future career “treading the boards”.

Mitch McGahan’s eventful afternoon took a further twist when he earned referee Tim Allatt’s displeasure for a deliberate knock-on, as Sandbach threatened the Bees’ try line in the right hand corner. More good scrummaging work kept the home side at bay however and with it the 10-10 score line intact at the half time.

An early injury immediately after the break to Jack Jolly – only just on as a replacement – could have given Sandbach the opportunity to get on the front foot. But a committed and determined Bees’ side had other plans.

Progressively restored to a full complement of 15 men and with replacement Liam Dunne keeping up the good work in the front row, the Bees put in a hugely impressive second half performance that lit up the gathering gloom for their increasingly vocal traveling support.

Patient work in the phases created space for the rested McGahan to use his strength and experience to stretch the lead to 10-17 with a self-converted try. With their tails now well and truly up, captain Chris Goddard was driven over from close range seven minutes later – well deserved reward for his and his engine room partner Matt Spink’s industry all afternoon.

The icing-on-the-cake bonus point was added a further seven minutes into the half, when a penalty try was promptly awarded after another impressive shove by the Bees eight. McGahan’s conversion rounded off a 16-point personal haul and a highly impressive kicking performance given the conditions from both from the tee and hand.

To their credit, spearhead by tireless No.8 Jack Seddon, Sandbach refused to lie down and continued to come at the opposition in search of a consolation score. Of equal merit was the Bees’ determination and organisation not to concede, keeping their second half copybook unblemished.

Only time will tell if the performance and result from the journey up the M6 to Sandbach means that “normal service” has been now been restored by the Bees. What is certain that if the Ian Matthews’ squad can deliver this sort of performance week in, week out, they will provide a stern test going forward for many sides in the league.

They will soon have the opportunity to test this hypothesis when they welcome Scunthorpe to Portway this Saturday (5th December, KO 2.15pm).

Teams

Sandbach – Stewart Butters, Jack Leech, Elliot Morris (T), Marcus Broad, Dan Massey, Nick Allsop ©, Mark Bird, Jack Seddon, Ross Sutherland, George Bordill, Dan Stubbs, Chris Davenport, Gareth Caen, Zac Jones and Tom Concu. Replacements –Liam Carpenter, Ben Twemlow and Luke Butler.

Birmingham & Solihull – Sam Davenport, Alex O’Malley (T), Ian Briggs, Aaron Wilson (YC) Nyle Beckett,, Mitchell McGahan (YC) (P, T, 4C), Martin Hooker, Matt Tibbatts, Darren Forder, Ashley Scriven, Matt Spink, Chris Goddard (T)©, Kurtis Payne, Andy Kettle, Dan Toth. Replacements – Liam Dunne, Jack Jolly and Jimmy Oliver.

Referee – Tim Allatt