It was Groundhog Day once again at Portway yesterday (Saturday 18th April) with the Bees conceding an eight-point lead against Hull in the final eight minutes to crash to another agonising defeat. The latest loss means that Birmingham & Solihull, barring a minor miracle in the last round of the games next Saturday, will be relegated from English rugby’s fourth tier at the end of the season.

For the neutral observer, both relegation-threatened sides served up a thrilling 11 try see-saw contest, well officiated by referee Luke Haskins. In reality, the 350 crowd – nearly all with vested interests - witnessed an error-strewn game with plenty of passion but lacking in quality, played out by two teams justifiably occupying second and third bottom positions in the NL2N table.

On a glorious spring day, once the Bees had conceded a seemingly obligatory 3 point lead from a Greg Lound penalty with just a minute on the clock, they got into their stride and were 14-3 ahead by the 11 minute mark thanks to tries from skipper Chris Goddard and winger Aquile Smith, with centre Rob Connolly having a hand in the creation of both.

Nothing ever goes quite to plan, however, and a yellow card for fly half Adam Canning after 17 minutes, defending valiantly in front of the posts gave the visitors the impetus and the extra width to score two quick tries of their own from second row Adam Corkish and flanker Jonathan Matthew. With the Hull fly half unable to convert either, the Bees were still narrowly ahead at 14-13 with Canning now restored to the field of play.

More Hull pressure, created by their large and mobile pack, yielded a third unconverted try from the giant Corkish. However the Bees showed their determination not to let the flood gates open with a second try for Goddard just before the break. The extra points from Canning – who was to eventually record another highly impressive 100% kicking display – kept the Bees 21-18 ahead at half time.

The men in black started the second half strongly and when Canning snaked through the Hull defence for a solo try two minutes in, securing the try bonus point in the process, it seemed that the all important win could be within the Bees’ grasp. Hull had other ideas, however.

Their forwards wound themselves up for another assault on the Bees’ defensive line and were rewarded for their attritional play with two further tries by the ever present Matthew and his No.8 partner Oliver Cook, swinging the pendulum back 28-30 in Hull’s favour with 22 minutes to go.

The see-saw nature of this now tense game took a further twist when Aquile Smith conjured up his second try – seemingly out of nowhere – to wrest the lead back for the home side. And when Canning slotted a penalty kick with just eight minutes to go, surely a 38-30 lead would be sufficient to see the Bees home?

Sadly not for the long-suffering home supporters, who were forced to witness yet another harrowing final act of a game where the Bees’ season-long ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory was exposed once again.

A penalty conceded within kicking range allowed Lound to close the gap to 5 points, then two minutes later left wing Stephen Hihetah evaded some half hearted Bees tackling to score like a cheetah in the corner. Lound who’s kicking radar had been somewhat out of calibration for most of the afternoon, landed the perfect conversion to secure a well earned Hull victory and, with it, deliver a sickening hammer blow to the Bees’ National League 2 North survival hopes.

With the Bees other two relegation rivals – Luctonians and Preston Grasshoppers – both securing wins yesterday, the Portway side now are second from the bottom of the table with 53 points, with Hull (54 points) and Luctonians (57 points) in third and fourth from bottom spots respectively. Both have won ten games to the Bees tally of eight.

The Bees travel to Otley next Saturday (25th April, KO 3pm) knowing that they must achieve a bonus point win, whilst relying on Luctonians (who play Leicester Lions at home) losing without picking up a losing bonus point, to avoid the drop. That also relies on Hull being beaten at home by Preston Grasshoppers.

Don’t bet the farm on it.

Teams

Birmingham & Solihull – Jimmy Oliver, Dai Evans, Steve Jons, Rob Connolly, Aquile Smith (2T), Adam Canning (T, P, 5C, YC), Rod Petty, Steve Leach, Ashley Scriven, Darren Forder, Chris Goddard© (2T), Matt Spink, Nick Bingham, Andy Kettle and Liam Dunne. Replacements – Stefan Thorp, Pete Koziot, Rob Gregg, Charlie Ding and Ian Briggs.

Hull RUFC – Ryan Holland, Ben Thoy, Tomasi Tanumi, Alex Heard, Stephen Hihetah (T), Greg Lound (2P, 2C), Oliver Hardisty, Oliver Cook (T), Ben Sullivan, Johnathan Matthew (2T), Adam Corkish (2T), Robert Devonshire, Ross Davies, Tom Rice and Paul Sewell. Replacements – Chris Murphy, Michael Joblig, Kuki David, Aidan Holland and Joseph Staffford.

Referee – Luke Haskins