There was a feeling of déjà vu at Portway as a last minute try earned visitors Sedgley Park a last gasp victory, putting a dampener on the birthday celebrations of Bees’ Director of Rugby Eugene Martin, writes CUB Reporter Jack Seifas.

This is the third time this season that the Bees have had victory snatched away from them “at the death” but the disappointment of the loss was compensated by two bonus points and a performance full of vitality against a strong Sedgley Park side.

The Bees got off to a perfect start in the first minute of the game, when quick play at the breakdown created time and space for Rod Petty – playing at full back - to land a perfectly executed cross field punt for winger, Jimmy Oliver to run onto, beating his opposite winger to the try line for the first score of the game. Adam Canning slotted the conversion to make it 7-0.

With blue sky and good conditions, both teams were looking to run the ball early on. With possession interchanging, it was Sedgley Park who took advantage of an attacking line out close to the Bees 22. Quick hands and strong running from their big pack led to a missed tackle on the try line, allowing agile prop Benjamin Black to crash over. The try was converted making it 7-7.

Two minutes later, Bees got their noses in front again thanks to a Canning penalty and were looking sharp both in attack and defence. The 17th minute saw the first of many extremely effective choke tackles from Bees, and in particular Steven Johns who held up the ‘Park ball carriers all game.

With both teams looking to play an attacking style of rugby, it was the Bees who capitalised on some slick handling to create some space on the far side. Rod Petty used all his guile to free Jack Jolly, who ran in a try of some beauty right in the corner. Canning missed the conversion, but the Bees were now 15-7 to the good.

Sedgley Park fought back with a try of their own, number 8, Ryan Parkinson crashing over after some solid build up play, a try very similar to their first. The conversion from Matt Riley was good, bringing the north Manchester side right back into contention at 15-14.

Bees responded immediately - centre Rob Connolly broke the line just into Sedgley’s half, drawing his man and offloading to Rod Petty who did the simple job of shipping it to winger Alex O’Malley who ran in to score Bees third try of the half. At 20-14 the home support were purring.

With five minutes to go, Matt Spink was penalised for not rolling away and shown a yellow card by referee Kirkpatrick. Sedgley Park opted for the three points and Riley took them well, making it 20-17 at the break.

After a surprisingly quiet start to the second half, Sedgley started to mount the pressure on, yet Bees stood strong in defence and rode the pressure well. However the visitor’s industry was eventually rewarded after 15 minutes through a self try for centre Matt Riley, giving them a 20-24 lead for the first time in the game.

However, just a minute later, Bees broke back with a try of their own. Quick thinking from the restart saw captain Chris Goddard break the line, more quick passing saw the ball in the hands of winger Rupert Giles who showed good strength to hold of a tackle and get over the line. Canning added the extras making it 27-24.

Sedgley Park, with the majority of possession and territory continued to press, spurning a number of kickable penalty opportunities as they sought the win rather than a draw. With time running out, it looked as if the heroic Bees defensive effort was going to deliver them a well-deserved win.

Sadly it was not to be. With 79 minutes on the clock, positive attacking play from Sedgley saw them create a three on two overlap in the corner for the widest man Michael Smith to hold off a last gasp tackle from Jimmy Oliver to score the winning try. The conversion was missed but that didn’t matter as the final whistle brought the game to an end at 27-29.

Despite the loss, the Bees can take a lot of positives from that game. They looked dangerous in attack, with skill, power and pace and were very well organised defensively too.

Although they weren’t able to serve up a win as a birthday present for Director of Rugby Eugene Martin, there were still some happy returns in the form of two league bonus points and an excellent performance to build upon as they look forward to entertaining Leicester Lions at Portway next week (Saturday 11th October, KO 2pm).

Teams

Birmingham & Solihull – Rod Petty, Alex O’Malley (T), Steve Johns, Rob Connolly, Jimmy Oliver (T), Adam Canning (P, 2C), Jack Jolly (T), Steve Leach, Ashley Scriven, Will Crane, Chris Goddard (T)©, Matt Spink, Nick Bingham, Lewis Grinsell and Peter Koziot. Replacements Andy Kettle, Liam Dunne, Jack Linnett, Rupert Giles (T) and Ian Briggs.

Sedgley Park – Richard Wainwright, Andrew Riley, Matt Riley (T, 3C, P), Chris Wilkinson, Jamie Harrison, Stephen Collins, Callum McShane, Ryan Parkinson (T), Will Emerson, Rhys Davies, Juan Crous ©, Oliver Parkinson, Ben Black (T), Liam West, Max Ashcroft. Replacements – George Hymes, David Blackwell, Mike Smith (T), Paul Urmston and Curtis Strong.

Referee – Karl Kirkpatrick