Brave Bees Belatedly Better Irish

After a long journey down to Surrey, Bees were faced with a monumental task, attempting to finally overcome London Irish. There were high expectations for the battle ahead and the players did not disappoint. The London club's pristine pitches were an appreciated change from the Stoke slope of a fortnight ago.
Bees began with a bang, showing their intensity by putting the opposition under pressure from the first whistle. It wasn't long before Irish found themselves with a lineout deep inside their own 22, it was overthrown and, ever the opportunist, Kamil read the play well and took the ball at pace to go crashing over the line after just 6 minutes. 5-0.
Irish then responded very well to the early pressure and began their first half siege of the Bees line. The Bees defence were struggling to cope with the tempo of their opponents attack, with the width on the ball leaving the defensive line riddled with gaps. Irish soon capitalised on this by crossing to take the lead. 5-7.
The opponents now were on the front foot, having nullified the Bees buzz of the very opening minutes. Following the kick off Irish swiftly moved back up the pitch, to begin another charge on the Bees line. A number of minutes of desperate defending later Irish punished Bees once more to make the score 5-12 just 15 minutes in.
The onslaught of the Bees line did not stop there with quick ball allowing Irish to attack the Bees defence before it was set. But Bees became increasingly resilient and difficult to break down, despite this the opponents still managed to punch through the Bees defence to score with their powerful ball carrying ability. 5-19. This was quickly followed by a penalty on Irish's next visit to the 22 after 21 minutes. 5-22

Bees now knew it was a tough ask to haul themselves back into this game, but this Bees side are not a team to give up in the face of adversity. They have rallied before against Southend and sure enough they would rally again today. It was clear that so far Bees had been letting their opponents play the game on their terms, it was now important they regained structure and played their very own brand of hard aggressive rugby.

Despite the 17 point deficit Bees responded well, showing some continuity in attack that had been somewhat missing so far. After a number of phases space was created out wide and some quick hands allowed Dane Coles-esque hooker Holsey to 'bounce' over in the corner.10-22.
This stemmed the flow of the game, with both teams truly calming down and getting a foothold in the game. But with just a minute to go before half-time Irish broke down the right and looked certain to score before Tomo came racing across to make a crucial try saving tackle. However to everyone's disbelief (including our opponents) Tom was awarded a yellow card for a 'high-tackle'. A dubious decision most would agree.
HT. 10-22.

In the second half Bees seized a stranglehold on the game through good game management from half backs Ben and Cole, and equally impressive ball carrying from the likes of Heeksy and Corry. With Irish receiving a yellow after a succession of penalties, Bees took advantage of the extra man to truly assert their dominance on the game with tries from Boland on 43 mins and Ivor on 49 mins to make it 20-22 with 20 minutes still remaining.
Bees now had some fire in their bellies, true grit and determination that nothing would stop them from getting the win. And although numbers were now even once again, Bees refused to stop and continued to pummel the Irish defence with the opponents finding it impossible to get out of their half as Bees grip on the game grew tighter. Bees got their just rewards to take the lead after 53 mins as Heeksy burrowed over. 25-22
Bees smelt blood, they wanted more. Their opponents continued to struggle clearing their lines and Bees were thwarted once more with a try disallowed thanks to some more questionable referring.
With the sizeable Irish pack tiring spaces began to appear but errors increased in Bees' game thanks to some credible scramble defence from Irish. But eventually the Bees attack became all too hot to handle for their opponents with Tomo's try under the sticks being met with jubilant celebration on and off the field with just two minutes remaining.
FT 32-22.

All in all this was yet another huge achievement for all involved truly showing how much the group has progressed over the last few years. I feel again there is certainly a lot to be said for the team spirit and the mentality of this side to score 27 unanswered points to come from behind and win the game despite the odds.
A huge thank you to London Irish for hosting another tremendous game of rugby, it was a true spectacle. Of course we hope to play you again soon, this calibre of fixture can only help both teams improve.

Noah Heward (bench warmer)