Bees prove both lamentable and laudable

Oct 19 2009 by Brian Dick, Birmingham Post

BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL...20EXETER…51

Last Ever Matches at Sharmans Cross Road are ten a penny these days. There have been three in the last six months, and two in the last fortnight alone.

Even a cursory glance back into the recent past of this most unpredictable of clubs would probably throw up half a dozen ‘Last Ever Matches at Sharmans Cross Road’.

So as one of the greater spotted oval ball entities go, this wasn’t a bad one, certainly much more palatable than the previous version during which Bees were hammered 29-0 by the worst side in the Championship.

Indeed it was even better than the one in May, which brought an upset defeat at the hands of Cambridge and an utterly anti-climactic way to end a long unbeaten run.

This time the winning sequence belonged to Exeter and from the fourth minute onwards it never looked as though Waterloo was anything other than a very long way away.

That was how long it took three home defenders to fall off the impressive Tom Bedford, as though he were made of stone.

By the time the strong-running centre had given midfield partner Paul McKenzie the simple task of opening the scoring an upset was no where near the cards, never mind on them.

But to many of a Silhillian persuasion the abiding memory of this latest Last Ever Match at Sharmans Cross Road will be the image of Rod Petty and Rob Connolly tying a retreating defender in knots as he tried to figure out which of them would make the final burst for the line.

Petty finished the job but not without the element of comedy which lifted even the most downcast of souls.

Then seconds later Mitch Culpin seared through the visiting rearguard to give Cameron Mitchell a stroll in, as the most spirited of comebacks momentarily threatened the composure of the league leaders.

Throw into the mix Culpin’s first half try, beautifully created by Mitchell’s fade to the outside that opened an inside channel for his winger, and it was clear the last thing Bees will lose is their punch.

Sadly they have already lost a lot, however. With the ten departed players have gone a workable lineout, conviction in defence and any semblance of a kicking game.

All three things cost them against an effective Exeter side that befits its league placing but should not kid itself this year’s competition has anything like the quality of seasons gone by.

In Bedford they possessed the outstanding threequarter and in Tom Johnson they lived on the game’s dominant ball carrying force. That combined with their supremacy in the set piece made it virtually impossible to lose.

And so they bashed their way to seven tries, four in the first half and three in the second.

At times Bees oscillated from the lamentable to the laudable, often within the same minute. Alex Davidson was pressed into service as a rear jumper, with a brief to tap the ball into phase play as quickly as possible.

And Petty tried to find a few gems from a box of tricks that contained a few duds too. The malfunctioning lineout forced him to tap a penalty in his own 22, which was ultimately lost and led to another Exeter try.

But that is the nature of the hosts’ style, high stakes, high risk, high entertainment value. Which means we keep our fingers crossed there is another Last Ever Match at Sharmans Cross Road.

The next one is when Moseley visit on October 31, now that really would be a fitting occasion. But by that stage Bees hope to have at least found a paddle with which to navigate their way up a certain creek. If they can do that they might get to stage a Last Ever Match at Sharmans Cross Road for all the right reasons.

BEES: Hunt (Martin, 65); Lawson, McLean, Mitchell, Culpin; Petty, Williams (Brown, 63); Long (Dowding, 63), Preece, Davies, Davidson, Ault (Brightwell, 50), Connolly, Clayton (Thomas, 75), Halavatau (Brightwell 43-50). Replacement: Gardner.

EXETER: Matavesi; Sestaret (Rennie 33, Thomas 42), McKenzie (Steenson, 80), Bedford, Marsden; Gray, Bolt; Murphy (Moon, 5), Nelson (Alcott, 58), Budgen, Tomes, Hayes (Bentley, 68), Slade, Alan Miller (Andy Miller, 58), Johnson.

Referee: Chris Sharp (RFU).