Two tries by speedster winger Aquile Smith, a try for full back Ian Briggs and seven points from the ever-reliable boot of Adam Canning, were enough to outscore a Sedgley Park side who put in an uncharacteristically below par performance.

The early exchanges suggested an exciting yet even contest was in store for the hardy 193 souls who braved the chilly conditions at Park Lane. The balance appeared to tip in favour of the Tigers when Peter Koziot was ordered to the sin bin after 11 minutes for illegally taking out giant lock and captain Juan Crous at the line out. Local fans were baying for red, but referee Rawson, after consulting with his assistant, wisely concluded that there was no malice aforethought and yellow was therefore the appropriate colour of card to be shown to the veteran Bees prop.

Sedgley duly took advantage of the extra man with powerhouse No.8 Matt Lamprey, who was to prove a handful all afternoon, crashing over from a scrum three minutes later. Diminutive fly half Steve Collins, on for the injured Chris Wilkinson, couldn’t add the extras and indeed the home side were unable to add any further points during the remainder of their period of numerical superiority.

Both sides were looking to play open rugby, but Park were guilty of handling errors whilst Bees still had a worrying propensity to kick possession away – too often down the throat of full back Andrew Riley who looked dangerous every time he got his hands on the ball.

A Collins penalty stretched Sedgley’s lead to 8-0 on the 28 minute mark, but the visitors hit back almost immediately with a fine try – Adam Canning put a perfectly weighted kick over the ‘Park defence and Aquile Smith used his pace and guile to dot the ball down. Canning blotted his copybook slightly with the conversion, albeit thanks to intervention from the posts.

The second Bees try followed just six minutes later – the ball was deftly passed along the backline, with Briggs showing that he too had the gas to finish off a sleek move. With the Canning kicking radar now recalibrated, the Bees were 8-12 to the good and – for one of the few times this season – looked like they could control the game to a winning conclusion.

The Bees started the second half as brightly as they ended the first period, despite challenging meteorological conditions in the form of a brief hail shower. They were soon applying pressure on the Sedgley line and, with the prospect of tricky weather conditions continuing, Canning wisely opted to accumulate further points with a sweetly struck drop goal.

The weather improved and the game continued to ebb and flow, with both sides’ defence holding up well. Sedgley openside flanker Billy Emerson was a constant threat, but Rob Connolly was having another fine game at No8 for the Bees. Two Collins penalties in quick succession narrowed the deficit to 14-15 and stirred the hopes of the home support.

However, with 26 minutes of the second period gone, a well worked catch and drive at the lineout saw the ball released and Smith continued his happy knack of being in the right place at the right time to score in the corner. Canning proved again why he is one of the league’s leading points scorers and the Bees were 14-22 ahead.

Sedgley earned themselves a losing bonus point with another Collins penalty with two minutes to go, but it was clear that Midlanders were not going to let this hard fought victory go begging. The celebrations as the final whistle confirmed the 17-22 result underlined the importance of the win on a number of levels for the Bees, not least as it ended a losing run against the north Manchester outfit dating back to 2011.

Birmingham & Solihull are on the road again next week (Saturday 24th January), travelling to Leicester Lions in search of further points that would continue to aid their ascent up the National League 2 North table.

Teams

Sedgley Park – Andrew Riley, Jamie Harrison, Richard Wainwright, Matt Riley, Curtis Strong, Chris Wilkinson, Paul Urmston, Matt Lamprey (T), Will Emerson, Rhys Davies, Michael Smith, Juan Crous ©, Ben Black, Liam West, Max Ashcroft. Replacements – Jack Warrington, Thomas Blackwell, Stephen Collins (4P) and Callum McShane

Birmingham & Solihull – Ian Briggs (T), Dai Evans, Jimmy Oliver, Steve Johns, Aquile Smith (2T), Adam Canning (DG,2C), Rod Petty, Rob Connolly, Ashley Scriven, Solomon Dacres, Chris Goddard ©, Henno Venter, Peter Koziot (YC), Will Crane and Jonah Boyce. Replacements – Liam Dunne, Steve Leach, Rob Gregg, Jack Linnett and Andrew Kettle.

Referee – Andrew Rawson