Bees pushed all the way by plucky Lichfield

Birmingham & Solihull extended their unbeaten run to 15 games with a 17-20 away win at Lichfield, but were pushed all the way by their plucky hosts.

The Bees came back from a half time deficit to secure a bonus point win in a game which tested both the character and resources of Pete Glackin and Stewart Pearl’s side.

It was two tries a piece in a first half, where the normally smooth Bees’ engine was firing on just three cylinders. Whilst their set piece was functioning well, they were guilty of kicking away too much ball with the wind against them. They were also pitched against a Lichfield side clearly fired up for the encounter.

With Lichfield’s No.8 Richard Burton in the sin bin, centre Jimmy Oliver found space, created by a neat offload from his flyhalf Max Rodman, to draw first blood for the Bees after 9 minutes. Full back Harry O’Brien, who had a rare off-day with the boot, failed to add the extras on this or any of the subsequent Bees’ scores.

The home side had steadily been building some momentum and they were rewarded with a try by their captain Charlie Milner, after his brother Chris Milner had crashed through in the centre. Greg Massey slotted the conversion.

The Bees found themselves further under the kosh seven minutes later when Rodman was sent to the sin bin for tackling without retreating 10 metres from a tap penalty. Their woes were further compounded when flanker Michael Stephens was forced to leave the pitch with a head injury. Lichfield immediately took advantage with a try for fullback Massey, who rubbed further salt into the wound with the successful conversion.

You don’t get to be league leaders for nothing and the Bees regrouped, taking the game right back at Lichfield, despite being down to 14 men. After several assaults on the Lichfield try line, ever ready hooker Zane Raimondi crashed over on the stroke of half time to reduce the deficit to 14-10.

Despite the sideling through injury of replacement Ed Krawiecki and being forced to play with three props, the Bees were first on the score sheet in the second half with another forwards’ try courtesy of No.8 Umraan Jadwat. It seemed, at this point, that the home side’s resolve could be showing signs of cracking.

However Lichfield were clearly not here just to make up the numbers and continued pressure yielded two yellow cards for the Bees in quick succession – prop Joe Foreman and scrum half Jack Secher both sanctioned by referee Hill. Down to 13 men and all the play in the danger zone, this was - one sensed - a key period in the game.

Yet the heroic Bees’ defence held firm, with a Massey penalty all that the home side could harvest from the pressure. Now back to 14 men, home hearts were well and truly broken when Matt Spink finished off another impressive forward catch and drive to edge the Bees back ahead at 17-20.

Despite being quickly back down to 13 men when Steve Johns was rather harshly shown yellow for a high tackle, the Bees’ held on to maintain their unbeaten record. A losing bonus point was the very least that the men in Green deserved for their valiant efforts.

With Peterborough Lions winning again but not picking up a bonus point, the Bees now have a three point lead at the top of the Midlands Premier League with three games still in hand. Next week, the Bees’ relentless fixture schedule sees them entertain Longton at Portway on Saturday 3rd February KO 2.15pm.

Bees - 1. Joe Foreman (YC), 2. Zane Raimondi (T), 3. Matt Probert, 4. Andy Weaver, 5. Matt Spink (T), 6 Danny Wright ©, 7. Michael Stephens, 8, Umraan Jadwat (T), 9. Jack Secher (YC), 10. Max Rodman (YC), 11. Steve Johns (YC), 12. Nathan Tilsley, 13. Jimmy Oliver (T), 14. Tawanda Chipadza, 15. Harry O’Brien, 16. Kurtis Payne, 17. Ed Krawiecki & 18. Ben Phillips.
Referee: - Jake Hill