Bees’ No.8 Steve Leach opened the scoring after just 3 minutes from a 5-metre scrum. However Caldy struck back almost immediately, with Josh Grant-Bulter scoring from a rolling maul from an attacking line out.

Rod Petty – playing at fly half in place of the injured Canning – slotted a penalty on the 15-minute mark to give the Bees an 8-3 advantage, despite the torrential rain that was making the going difficult for players and spectators alike.

Forward power has been a cornerstone of the Bees’ success this season and they turned it on to great effect over the next twenty minutes of the game, notching up 4 unanswered tries. The first of the four came from the well-oiled rolling maul and it was Chris Goddard who was again to emerge from the bottom of the pile.

Steve Johns – fresh from his man of the match performance against Bromsgrove last week - got in on the act after 27 minutes after a nice break from centre partner Rob Connolly. Jack Jolly added the conversion.

Stefan Thorp - on loan from Moseley – was involved in both of the next tries. The first was set up after an incisive run from the young prop, who off-loaded to his skipper Will Radburn who set up the Bees No.8 for his second try of the afternoon, securing a try bonus point in the process.

Thorp then got on the score sheet himself just before the end of the first half, the dynamic Radburn again involved in the build up. Petty put over the conversion and the Bees were in commanding position at the break.

The rain had cleared as the second half got under way and Caldy looked far more purposeful as they applied concerted pressure on the Bees line. Good tackling, excellent disruptive work at the loose and a couple of front of line out steals by tireless flanker Ashley Scriven, all combined to frustrate the visitors. However the side from the Wirral were eventually rewarded for their industry with a try for No.8 Craig Smithson after a succession of scrums on the Bees line.

Both sides continued to play the game at a good tempo, although equally effective defensive work limited the scoring to just a Jack Jolly penalty for the home team. Caldy, who had the majority of possession in the second half, got a consolation try with five minutes to go with winger Matt Van Sertima finishing off in the corner to give the 35-15 score line greater respectability from the visitors’ point of view.

This was another praise-worthy performance by the Bees, particularly as a spate of recent injuries has put pressure on Eugene Martin’s squad. For Caldy, they were perhaps left to rue a lacklustre first half display, coupled with an unusually quiet afternoon from the same backline that had taken the Bees defence apart so comprehensively in the corresponding fixture back in November.

Next week the Bees head north to Preston Grasshoppers in search of their sixteenth win of the season, before welcoming Sheffield Tigers to Portway in a fortnight’s time on Saturday 5th April, kick off 2pm.

Teams:-

Birmingham & Solihull – Fensome, Elvers, Connolly Johns (T), Mogaji, Petty (P,2C), Jolly (P), Leach (2T), Scriven, Stephens, Goddard (T), Lee, Bingham, Radburn ©, Thorp (T). Replacements Boyce, Dunne, Linnett, Koziot and Briggs.

Caldy – Soutar, Van Sertima (T), Roberts, Kohler, Eaves, Vasey ©, Broxson, Smithson (T), Davidson, Cross, Mackin, Gerrard, Lowes, Dowridge, Grant-Butler (T). Replacements Jones, Salisbury, Dowler, Kohler and Smith.

Referee – Jack Makepeace