Last-gasp Bees’ try snatches victory from plucky but unlucky Sandbach

Winger Arron Wilson’s try in the final play of the game snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for the Bees against a Sandbach side who showed that they well worthy of staying up in National League 3 Midlands.

Sandbach had come into the game with more at stake than the Bees and this was reflected in a very spirited performance by the Cheshire side. The home side were first on the scoreboard though, despite the fact that Sandbach had dominated the first quarter of the game and their fly half Benny Elliot had missed a penalty in the opening minute.

Darren Forder finished off an excellent piece of play, started when Mitch McGahan ripped the ball in the tackle from an opposition incursion in the Bee’s half. McGahan then offloaded to the pacey Jimmy Oliver, with mobile lock Matt Spink on hand to truck the ball up to the Sandbach 22. With the ball swung wide, hooker Zane Raimondi was well placed to offload to his openside flanker for the try. A regulation McGahan conversion gave the Bees a 7-0 lead.

The Bees were beginning to get a toehold in the game, but the loss of Oliver to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on seemingly saw this slip, with Elliot shortly lining up another kickable penalty. However the woodwork intervened and with six minutes to half time the Bees further extended their lead with a try from Ashley Scriven, playing at No.8.

Seventeen year-old winger Jack Fitzgerald, who had come on moments earlier to cover for the yellow carded Oliver, provided a lovely inside pass to create the score with his first-ever touch of the ball in senior rugby.

It was McGahan’s turn to be denied by the uprights and the points-differential was further narrowed to 12-7 just five minutes later, with Elliott again in the thick of things with a self-converted try under the posts. Bees were in fact just 5 metres from the Sandbach line when the ball was incepted and taken up the field by winger Kimber, who fed to his fly half to cross the whitewash and send the visitors in the happier of the two sides at the interval.

If the first half was a mixed bag for the Bees, the second half had all the signs of turning into a horror show as Sandbach bagged their second try of the afternoon on the 50 minute mark, courtesy of some opportunistic interplay by their wingers. Replacement Elliott Morris deftly chipped over the home defence for Jack Leech to profit from his good handling and pace. With the extras added, the men in green, red and white had their noses ahead at 12-14.

With a further Elliot penalty extending Sandbach’s lead to 12-17, the signs were looking distinctly ominous for the Bees. However, life is never dull at Portway and the last five minutes were helter-skelter to say the least.

A sustained forward assault on the visitor’s line yielded a deserved close-range try for the dynamic Spink to level the scores, McGahan having pushed the conversion wide. With another Elliot penalty slotted three minutes later after the Bees had infringed at the breakdown, it seemed that Sandbach were going to snatch what would have been a merited victory.

Yet it was the Bees who were to have the final word with Wilson’s well taken try at the death, garnished with a McGahan conversion that was to steal the victory for the home side and record their seventh win in eight games.

Ever improving fitness levels and a fortress mentality nurtured in recent months were important ingredients in this latest victory. Plaudits should also go to Sandbach, who were competitive throughout and deserved more than a losing bonus point for their endeavours.

Although not yet mathematically safe, if they put in similar performances in their remaining three games, they should be able to rely on their current 10 point cushion to keep them in this league for next season.

For the Bees, they will gladly take the bonus point win that puts them up to seventh place in the league. With a free Easter weekend, they then have the prospect of an away trip up to promotion-chasing Scunthorpe on Saturday 2nd April. It is a trip that, on current form, the Bees will relish rather than recoil from.

Team

Birmingham & Solihull:- Chris Fensome, Arron Wilson (T), Brian Sibiya, Mikey Whettell, Jimmy Oliver (YC), Mitchell McGahan (2C), Jack Jolly, Ashley Scriven (T), Michael Stephens, Darren Forder (T), Matt Spink (T), Chris Goddard©, Pete Koziot, Zane Raimondi and Dan Toth(T). Replacements – Kurtis Payne, Matt Tibbatts and Jack Fitzgerald.