Winning is a habit and one that the Bees have seemingly acquired quite a taste for, as their 17-7 victory over Nuneaton at Portway on Saturday secured their fourth successive league win.

Ahead of the game, coaching duo Mike “Willy” Williams and Dave “Spanner” Spencer had talked about testing the Bees resurgence in form against a top four side in the league. Well their charges passed that test with flying colours, coming back from 3-7 down to secure another four points and, in doing so, probably putting to bed any lingering relegation fears.

The home side had the majority of possession in the first half, but could not convert this into territorial advantage or indeed points on the board. Fly half Mitch McGahan had slotted over an early penalty after just 3 minutes, but a resilient a well-organised Nuneaton defence absorbed everything that the Bees subsequently threw at them in the half.

They did so even when they went down to 14 men, when lock forward Matt Gibbs was sent to the sin bin for a minor altercation with his opposite number Matt Spink. Who was saint and who was sinner was not entirely clear.

Whilst the Bees chose – for the main part - to play 10-man rugby, centre Mikey Whettell and winger Alex O’Malley both showed promising glimpses of what they could do when they did manage to get hold of the ball.

The industry of the entire Bees’ pack was laudable, but the men in black were perhaps guilty of playing too narrow. In contrast, what little possession they had, Nuneaton looked the more dangerous side in attack when they fed the ball out wide to their nimble backline.

With the first half ending with the Bees in the ascendency but just 3-0 to the good, it was Nuneaton who appeared to be more determined to move up through the gears in the early stages of the second period. Their efforts were rewarded with a penalty try from a scrum on their hosts’ 5-metre line 20 minutes in, with fly half O’Brien slotting over the regulation conversion.

And when Mitch McGahan missed a second penalty attempt – albeit an ambitious one from the halfway line – there was a real possibility that the Nuns could have grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

Yet McGahan quickly atoned for his place kicking shortcomings by snatching an interception try from 40 metres out and, with it, swung the pendulum of the game right back in the home sides’s favour at 10-7.

With McGahan’s line kicking game now on song, the line-out working sweetly and the driving maul elevated to a near art form, the Bees scored a second and decisive try. With the Nuns’ energies sapped by a juggernaut of a driving maul, Alex O’Malley showed his poacher’s instincts to take the offload from his skipper to score under the posts. Although there was still 10 minutes left on the clock, the Bees were home and hosed at 17-7, McGahan slotting over his second conversion and bagging the Man of the Match award in the process.

Whilst far from flawless, there was much to applaud in this latest Bees’ performance, which was in marked contrast to their showing in the corresponding fixture back in October. Nuneaton are a good side, but they were never allowed to get into their stride and the men from Portway patiently ground out a well deserved win.

Over the last month the Bees have discovered a collective composure and determination and, if they can repeat this formula for the rest of the season, will provide a handful for any side they meet.

A trip to second placed Old Halesonians will provide the next examination for the resurgent Bees next Saturday (20th February, KO 2.15pm).

Team

Birmingham & Solihull:- Alex O’Malley (T), Sam Davenport, Mikey Whettell, Brian Sibiya, Nyle Beckett, Mitchell McGahan (P, T, 2C), Martin Hooker, Matt Tibbatts, Ashley Scriven, Darren Forder, Matt Spink, Chris Goddard©, Pete Koziot, Zane Raimondi, Dan Toth. Replacements –Kurtis Payne, Chris Fensome and Micahel Stephens.