Bees win mud wrestle to secure more important league points

The Bees came out top in an arm wrestle in some very muddy conditions to narrowly beat Longton 8-5 at Portway.

In doing, so they notched up a second successive win – a feat that they hadn’t managed to achieve previously this season, as well as doing “the double” on a second side in two weeks.

With heavy underfoot conditions, this game was never going to be a classic and the faithful were served up the type of fayre savoured only by connoisseurs of 10-man rugby. Eight points in the second half - a try from skipper Chris Goddard and a well struck penalty from fly half Mitch McGahan – was enough to outweigh the unconverted try from one of the Longton lock-forwards in the first half.

The visitors – clad at the start of the game in pristine white kit that would require more than a 30 degree wash at the end of it – put up dogged resistance throughout. Indeed the men from the Potteries could have pinched the victory in the dying embers of the game, had the Bees’ defence not proved so resolute.

Had that happened, it wouldn’t have been a fair reflection of the overall balance of power in the game, with the Bees monopolizing both territory and possession for most of the 80 minutes – particularly in the second half. The home side’s line out functioned admirably throughout and advantage in the scrum turned into total dominance with the introduction of fresh legs in the front row in the last quarter of the game.

Conditions and the fact that injuries meant that Paul Williams and Dave Spencer couldn’t name a backs replacement on the bench, pointed to a game plan that was going be somewhat limited. The interim coaching duo would have been more than satisfied with the industry shown by each of the 11 forwards that wore the mud-caked Bees shirt.

Hooker Zane Raimondi bagged the man of the match award, but it could have been any one of his forward colleagues deserving of that accolade. The Goddard/Spink engine room rumbled all afternoon, the Scriven/Forder/Tibbatts backrow trio were tireless and all four props used – Toth and Koziot for the initial rounds and Payne and impressive Kiwi newcomer Josh Evans – steadily ground their opposition down as the afternoon wore on.

The home supporters would have also be delighted to see Michael Stephens back from sojourns down under – the impact he made in a short period off the bench served as a welcome remainder of what this former player of the year can bring to a side.

In a game that was never going to provide much opportunity for the backs to show their flair, scrum half Chris Fensome marshaled his pack with distinction and youngster Brian Sibiya took his chance well in the centre, showing that his defensive game is as promising as his attacking one.

It may not have been pretty but – despite a last minute scare and a rather high unforced error count – it was pretty effective against, what was, decent opposition who were more than up for the contest.

The vital four league points bagged were just reward for their endeavors in challenging conditions and the Bees will try and make it three out of three – something they haven’t achieved since February/March 2012 – when they travel to Shropshire to play Newport (Salop) next Saturday (30th January, KO 2.15pm).

Team

Birmingham & Solihull:- Arron Wilson, Alex O’Malley, Mikey Whettle, Brian Sibiya, Nyle Beckett, Mitchell McGahan (P), Chris Fensome, Matt Tibbatts, Ashley Scriven, Darren Forder, Matt Spink, Chris Goddard (T) ©, Pete Koziot, Zane Raimondi, Dan Toth. Replacements –Kurtis Payne, Josh Evans and Micahel Stephens.