It may have been the end of the tax year, but Sheffield got zero return from a Bees team intent on putting behind them the disappointment of last week’s defeat at Preston.

Oscar Heath and Chris Goddard both made welcome comebacks to the starting XV and their influence was obvious right from the start, with the Bees full back making some strong runs from the deep and Goddard the beating heart of a well oiled Bees’ line out.

Jack Jolly, who was to have his best game in a Bees shirt for some time, slotted a penalty after 6 minutes when the Tigers found themselves offside at the ruck. Just 3 minutes later, the home side scored the first of four first half tries, demonstrating some lovely handling in the backs in the process. Fly half Petty spun the ball out to Heath who fed to Chris Fensome, cutting in from his wing; centre Rob Connolly was then on hand to take the offload. Jolly added the conversion to make it 10-0.

The Tigers looked to get into the game – and the Bees half – but patient defensive work from the home side led to a handling errors that gave possession back to the men from Portway. This was a pattern that was to be consistently repeated as the afternoon wore on.

The Bees went 17-0 up on the 21st minute mark, with Petty scrambling over the line after an acrobatic offload from winger Jimmy Oliver. Jolly, with a little help from the posts, added the extras. By now the home crowd were lapping up the high tempo fayre, with crisp handling and deft offloading, that the men in black were serving up.

But it wasn’t just in the backs where precision was on display, as illustrated by the Bees third try. The formula of penalty + kick to touch + catch and rolling maul = try to Chris Goddard is now a well proven one and, thanks to another conversion by Jolly, further stretched the lead to 24-0 after 29 minutes.

By now, the Bees were dominating virtually every department and a clever cross-field kick from Petty gave Steve Leach - lingering with intent on the right wing - a try and with it the bonus point for the home side five minutes before the end of the second period.

The second half was as entertaining as the first, although it took the Bees 25 minutes to add to their first half tally. This was a reflection how the Tigers were unable to translate significant periods of possession into points and just determined the home side was in defence.

Heath came close to scoring in the corner but was denied by the touch judge’s flag. However just a minute later, some lovely running in the centre by man of the match Steve Johns created the overlap for Goddard in the other corner. The golden boot of Jolly made it 36-0.

With the Tigers resources stretched by injury, there was now there was an air of champagne rugby about the Bees’ play with replacement winger Ashley Elvers cashing in with two tries. The first, successfully converted by Jolly, came from a quick tap from Petty, who was as alert as a Meerkat all afternoon. The second was created by another gliding run from Johns to make the final score 48-0.

Sheffield’s defeat means that relegation is now all but mathematically certain but they played with great heart – and at times no little skill, with No.8 Pearson ever industrious in their pack and winger Wallace and centre Buchanan both making strong runs that would have troubled lesser defences. Injuries sustained during the game also took their toll on the men from Dore Moor.

For the Bees, this was a very assured performance from a side clearly capable of playing with verve and intensity for a full 80 minutes. And with U19 hooker Adam Kettle making a very promising debut late on in the game, the future seemingly looks very encouraging indeed.

Next week the Bees head north to Sedgley Park, who currently occupy fourth place in the league, before welcoming Harrogate to Portway on Easter Saturday 19th April, kick off 2pm.

Teams:-

Birmingham & Solihull – Heath, Fensome, Connolly (T) Johns, Oliver, Petty (T), Jolly (P, 5C), Leach (T), Scriven, Stephens, Goddard (2T), Spink, Koziot, Radburn ©, Boyce. Replacements Bingham, Kettle, Onojofie, Elvers (2T) and Briggs.

Sheffield Tigers – Ward, Coates, Buxton, Redfern, Joel, Barnes, Spencer, Pearson, Holmes, Outram, Broadley, Buchanan, Thomson, Wallace, Neary. Replacements Price Bradford, Dunn, Parker & Monk

Referee – Christopher Ridley