Doncaster -v- Pertemps Bees

Powergen Cup, Round 3

16/10/2004 2PM

Castle Park, Doncaster

So, what happened to the Bees in the Cup last year then? Seriously though Bees managed to shock the world when they reached the Semis and were made heroes by the National Press on February 29th. Bees will be looking to do it all again this year, but must start off with a difficult game against Doncaster.

Doncaster will be no push-over. They are unbeaten this year in the league below the Bees and have very high hopes. They are only just below the Bees second team (aka Stourbridge). Donny have a few familiar faces. Their Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones has a familiar name and captained Wales in 1998. John and Rob Liley are at the club, both having played for Leicester. Rob played in the European Cup Final against Brive for Leicester. More locally Mike Brookes, a former Bee, is a regular in the Doncaster side.

The Bees side to play Doncaster will be a semi shadow side with some of the replacements being given the chance to impress. People like Martin O'Keefe, Rob Walton, Roman Piotrowski and cup hero Mark Woodrow are all set to star. 

Pertemps Bees will be without winger Lenny Woodard when they take on Doncatser in the Powergen Cup third round at Castle Park on Saturday October 16.
Woodard, a summer recruit from the Bridgend Blue Bulls rugby league team, has been selected to play rugby league for Wales against Ireland at Aberavon on October 17 and Pertemps Bees have agreed to release him from club duty to play in the game.
Woodard, who came on as a second half replacement in the National League One defeat at Bristol on Sunday, is a regular in the Welsh side having converted to the 13-a-a-side code after playing for a number of Welsh union sides including Pontypridd and Aberavon.
His place in the squad for the cup game is likely to be taken by former Coventry and Rugby Lions winger Roman Piotrowski.
Fly-half Mark Woodrow is likely to come into contention to start his first competitive game in six weeks following his recovery from a thigh strain. Woodrow suffered the injury in pre-season training and ggravated it in the opening league game of the season at Henley.
But he came through last week's club match at Oxford University without suffering any reaction to the injury and may now be preferred to Australian sevens international Tim Walsh in the starting line-up at Doncaster.
Skipper Ed Orgee, who has yet to play this season, will have a late fitness test on his knee injury and may be included in the cup squad as a replacement. Orgee is expected to make his first start in the club match against Cambridge University at Grange Road on October 19.
Centre Mike Davies, whose knee injury is not as serious as was first feared, is also in line to make his return at Cambridge. Davies was due to have an operation to repair a tear in a cartilage but he now hopes that three weeks rest will allow him to resume playing again.
Lock Rob Walton and prop Martin O'Keefe, who were on the replacements bench at Bristol, will also be considered for places in the starting line-up at Doncaster where the Bees will begin their cup campaign having reached the semi-finals for the first time in their history last season.

National One leaders Pertemps Bees are prepared for a backlash from their successful campaign in last season's Powergen Cup.
The Birmingham side, formerly Birmingham & Solihull, made national headlines when they ousted London Wasps from the quarter-finals en route to the semi-finals before they were eventually beaten by Newcastle Falcons.
The Bees begin this season's cup campaign with a difficult trip to National Two pacesetters Doncaster on Saturday October 16 where they are wary of becoming the victims of another giantkilling act.
"Having reached the last four last season there is obviously an expectation that we will do well again," said Phil Maynard, the Bees' director of rugby."We've got the T-shirt, now we've got to wear it.
"But Doncaster away is a very tough game for us to start our cup campaign. It's a ground where few sides win, they are, by and large, a full-time side and we remain very much a part-time team.
"Doncaster have a side full of experience and ith players, such as Simon Bunting, Russell Earnshaw and Rob Liley, who I have been knocking heads with for many years."
The Bees go into Saturday's game on the back of a 31-14 league defeat at Bristol last Sunday, their first reverse of the season.
"We set ourselves high standards and it was very disappointing for us to fall below those," Maynard said. "That defeat should be a wake-up call for us, if it isn't then we will be in trouble at Doncaster."
The Bees will be without winger Lenny Woodard who has been selected to play for the Wales rugby league team against Ireland at Aberavon on Sunday and centre Mike Davies, another Welshman, who is recovering from a knee injury.
Captain Ed Orgee may come into the squad for the first time this season following his recovery from a knee ligament injury that required surgery in August. Orgee will have a fitness test before Maynard finalises his squad.

My prediction: Doncaster 14-20 Bees

Form Guide:

Pertemps Bees: w w w w l

Doncaster: w w w w w

Comparisons:

Other Matches:

October 16, 2004
The Powergen Cup Third Round
Doncaster		v		Pertemps Bees	14:00
Rotherham		v		Plymouth Albion	14:00
London Welsh		v		Exeter	14:30
Newbury		v		Nottingham	15:00
Manchester		v		Sedgley Park	15:00
Richmond		v		Kendal	15:00
Bedford		v		Tabard	15:00
Redruth		v		Waterloo	15:00
Launceston		v		Halifax	15:00
Westcombe Park		v		Cleckheaton	15:00
Moseley		v		Henley	15:00
Orrell		v		Blaydon	15:00
Stourbridge		v		Coventry	15:00
Bracknell		v		Otley	15:00
Penzance/ Newlyn		v		Esher	16:00
October 17, 2004
Bristol		v		Bradford & Bingley	15:00

Map: http://www.drfc.co.uk/PlayingMatters/FirstTeam/Directions/Doncaster.htm

Armthorpe Road is closed this weekend on the Armthorpe side of the club so access only from Leger Way side. 

M18 J4, towards Doncaster
Left at second roundabout into Armthorpe
Right at the mini-roundabout in Armthorpe
Ground is 1 mile on your left.

REMEMBER. THE PREDICTIONS LEAGUE IS NOW OPEN

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