Match preview – Bees v Scunthorpe
Christmas cracker in prospect as Bees welcome high-flying Scunthorpe to Portway
The Bees begin their Christmas festivities at Portway this Saturday (5th December, KO 2.15pm) but will be hoping not to gift valuable league points to high-flying Scunthorpe.
The North Lincolnshire outfit has lost just one game in their last nine league outings home and away, with only three sides getting the better of them in their National League 3 Midlands campaign to date.
Following back to back losses against Hinckley (A) in the opening game of the season and their first home game against Lichfield, Tim Robinson’s side has hit a rich vein of form that has seen them notch up victories on the road against Longton, Nuneaton, Old Northamptonians and Sandbach, as well as recording home wins against Newport Salop, Old Halesonians, Peterborough Lions and - most latterly - Sutton Coldfield.
Their only recent loss, suffered away a fortnight ago at the hands of Syston, means that Scunthorpe now sit in third place in the League table on 37 points, just four points adrift of second place Old Halesonians. They are still, however, some way off challenging run away leaders Hinckley, who are unbeaten in 11 games and have amassed 51 points in the process.
For the Bees, the game will be an opportunity to show that last week’s 10-31 win up at Sandbach – and the performance behind it - was the start of a renaissance rather than merely a flash in the pan.
A grey, rain-swept afternoon up in south Cheshire last Saturday was the stage for the Bees to finally gel and deliver an emphatic winning performance that ended a winless six match run.
Despite both being yellow-carded during the game, Kiwi debutants Aaron Wilson (at inside centre) and Mitch McGahan (at fly half) 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.
Last week’s welcome bonus point win lifted the Bees from the foot of the table and out of the relegation zone – just, with 19 points now in the bag after 11 games. Any wins achieved over the three games in the run up to Christmas could have a transformational effect on both morale and league position, given that only 18 points currently separates Scunthorpe in 3rd place from the Bees in 11th spot.
However Head of Rugby Ian Matthews’ focus is purely in Saturdays’ game; “Following last week’s much improved performance up at Sandbach, which was fashioned out of hard work and a strong team ethic, the squad has continued to put the hard yards in at training this week.”
“In terms of selection this week the team remains largely intact from our last outing. Matt Spink has been forced to drop out due to concussion and has been replaced by Liam Dunne in the engine room. The backroom remains the same, with Matt Tibbatts becoming more and more influential each week at Number 8.”
“In the backs, Martin Hooker keeps the 9 shirt and will again link up with his fellow Kiwis, Mitch McGahan and Aaron Wilson, to form the spine of the backline at 9, 10 and 12. Jimmy Oliver comes in to start at outside centre and the back three - Alex O’Malley, Nyle Beckett and Sam Davenport - who were very solid last Saturday, keep their places this week. “
Birmingham & Solihull team selected v Scunthorpe Saturday 5th December 2.15pm KO:- Sam Davenport, Alex O’Malley, Jimmy Oliver, Aaron Wilson, Nyle Beckett, Mitchell McGahan, Martin Hooker, Matt Tibbatts, Darren Forder, Ashley Scriven, Liam Dunne, Chris Goddard ©, Kurtis Payne, Andy Kettle, Dan Toth. Replacements – Ian Matthews, Chris Fensome and Billy Castle.