Davey stings Bees with four of eight tries

BEDFORD BLUES 53

BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHUILL BEES 25
Thw old cliché of ‘it’s a funny old game’ is normally reserved for football but it seems quite appropriate to describe events at Goldington Road.

Scoring eight tries would normally mean that it had been a good day at the office but in truth there is still plenty of work to be done.

Birmingham and Solihull may be facing their toughest battle off the field to stay in existence, but they gave the Blues plenty to think about as they exposed a number of cracks in the defence.

“We’re not completely happy with that performance but we will take the result,” said fly half Brad Davies at the end of the match.

“Our defence was a little under par today and full credit to Birmingham because they threw the ball about a bit and made a game of it.

“We’ll take the five points and move our attention onto next week.”

Saturday was Ladies Day and the Blues turned out in Pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it looked as if the performance was going to be as stunning as their kit.

Three minutes in and Bedford opted for a scrum following a penalty and the ball was played wide to Ian Davey to open his account for the season.

Although Davies missed the conversion attempt he made amends for it a few minutes later when he slotted a penalty after the Bees were pulled up for hands in the ruck.

Credit to the visitors though, they didn’t let their heads drop and they should have scored a try when Cameron Mitchell broke clear but Rod Petty dropped the pass and let Bedford off the hook.

Simon Hunt converted a penalty for the Bees in 15th minute, but Bedford responded with a well worked Luke Fielden try. The full back took in a Bees clearance punt and then offloaded to Davey who found a bit of space before linking well with Liam Roberts and as he used the slope to his advantage he released Fielden to sprint clear and Davies converted.

Again Hunt brought the visitors back into things with a penalty, but then Fielden fired back from the restart with his second try. Duncan Taylor collected the kick and it was the catalyst for the try. Darryl Veenendaal, Davies and Ian Vass linked well before a huge pass found Fielden and he powered over in the corner – just out of conversion range.

The Bees continued to be a thorn in the side and following a yellow card for Paul Tupai, who bore the brunt for persistent team fouls, Hunt was played in by Jimmy Williamson for the score which he also converted.

The bonus point came next for Bedford though and it was the reintroduction of Tupai which created it. Three attempts without the number eight were all held up over the line, but when the Samoan returned his break led to Alex Rae and Chris Goodman – who replaced the injured Sacha Harding – both going over with the former Northampton man taking the credit and Davies converted.

Before the whistle there was time for a fifth and a second for Davey who galloped half the length of the field after being played in by Vass for an unconverted effort.

Following the break Davey continued his good work by securing his hat-trick. A Blues scrum was passed along the line and with an overlap created by Taylor and James Pritchard, Davey simply sprinted along the left wing and then under the posts. Pritchard took over kicking duties and slotted with ease.

A series of changes followed for both teams and after a period of disjointedness it was the Bees who struck next. Phaffing around at the scrum led to a free kick going to Birmingham and Rod Connolley ploughed his way over but Hunt didn’t have the range for the conversion.

The visitors luck was in as dropped tackles by Bedford started to mount up and Chris Brightwell got a deserved try for his constant harassment of the Blues defence as he found a gap and crossed over with Hunt adding the extras.

With the visitors starting to narrow the gap the Blues finally started to make their possession count and after Tupai broke from a scrum the backs took over with Pritchard playing in Taylor and the dreadlocked youngster did well to stretch over the line for the score which Pritchard then converted thanks to a nice deflection off the upright.

Davey wrapped up what was a good day for him with a fourth try which came largely thanks to the work of replacement Myles Dorrian. The Australian, who was playing at centre, slipped the grasp of two Birmingham defenders before slipping the ball to the winger who danced his way over the line and Pritchard converted well.

Ronnie McLean was lucky to stay on the field after a cynical off the ball challenge on Davey who was winning the chase to a peach of a Pritchard kick, but it would have been very unfair on the Bees if they lost by any more.

Mike Rayer knows that he will have a tough week ahead as he prepares the team for what is certain to be a much sterner challenge as the Blues head up to Rotherham next weekend.

Scorers. Bedford: Tries; Davey (4), Fielden (2), Rae, Taylor – Con; Davies (2), Pritchard (3) – Pen; Davies. Birmingham & Solihull: Tries; Hunt, Connolley, Brightwell – Con; Hunt (2) – Pen; Hunt (2).

Teams. Bedford: Fielden (Pritchard 45), Taylor, Roberts (Knight 54), Vass, Davey, Davies, Veenendaal (Dorrian 64), Walsh (Lilley 54), Locke (Richmond 72), Boulton, Harlock (Spencer 54), Rae, Harding (Goodman 10), Lewitt, Tupai.

Birmingham & Solihull: Culpin, Hunt, Tomlinson (McLean 62), Mitchell, Akinluyi, Petty, Williamson (Brown 62), Long, Reece (Gardner 77), Davis (Dowding 62), Davidson, Ault (Halavatau 50), Brightwell, Connolley, Earnshaw (Clayton 21). Not used: Martin.

Attendance: 3180