Bees 26-27 Rotherham
By Elliott Josypenko
November 13 2005
Pertemps Bees will wonder how they managed to lose a game that nudged them into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
By Elliott Josypenko
November 13 2005
Pertemps Bees will wonder how they managed to lose a game that nudged them into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Pertemps Bees will wonder how they managed to lose a game that nudged them into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
The Bees were in control of the game for long periods but were made to pay for making basic errors in the first half and missing important kicks after the break.
It was the unforced errors that allowed Rotherham to run in three opportunist tries in the first period and two missed penalties from Tim Walsh, one of which hit an upright, which prevented the Bees turning firstb half pressure into points.
Although defeat was a bitter disappointment for Bees supporters there were enough encouraging individual performances to suggest that a change of fortune cannot be far away.
Having played and competed with most of the teams in the top half of the table, the Bees now have - on paper at least - an easier run of games before they start the second half of the league programme with a tough trip to Harlequins in January.
The error count will have to be reduced and the Bees need to be a little more clinical in finishing off their own attacks, but there is certainly no need to press the panic button at this stage.
On Saturday a penalty from Ben Harvey gave the Bees an early lead, but that was swiftly cancelled out when a clearance kick was charged down and Rotherham's Neil Cochrane won the chase for the touchdown with WP Strauss improving the try.
Harvey trimmed the lead with a second penalty but that was nullified by a similar strike from Strauss. Rotherham extended their lead when Nick Baxter fumbled an inside pass, allowing Rotherham centre Lee Blackett to hack on and score with Strauss again adding the extras.
Harvey's accurate kicking kept the Bees in the hunt until just before half-time when Rotherham were rewarded for a period of sustained pressure with a try on debut from winger ND Monye, whose elder brother Ugo, scored for Harlequins at Sharmans Cross Road in the opening game of the season.
The Bees, to their credit, denied Rotherham another score in the second half, but they could not quite turn their pressure into sufficient points to manufacture a third win of the season.
Baxter latched on to a lovely chip from replacement fly-half to score the 146th try of his career. The veteran winger was making his 101st league appearance for the Bees having reached the century milestone at Bedford two weeks earlier.
Walsh added the conversion but could not find the target with two penalties which, as events proved, would have sealed victory.
Instead the Bees had to rely on a late try for Lamb and Walsh's conversion to snatch a losing bonus point.
The Bees were in control of the game for long periods but were made to pay for making basic errors in the first half and missing important kicks after the break.
It was the unforced errors that allowed Rotherham to run in three opportunist tries in the first period and two missed penalties from Tim Walsh, one of which hit an upright, which prevented the Bees turning firstb half pressure into points.
Although defeat was a bitter disappointment for Bees supporters there were enough encouraging individual performances to suggest that a change of fortune cannot be far away.
Having played and competed with most of the teams in the top half of the table, the Bees now have - on paper at least - an easier run of games before they start the second half of the league programme with a tough trip to Harlequins in January.
The error count will have to be reduced and the Bees need to be a little more clinical in finishing off their own attacks, but there is certainly no need to press the panic button at this stage.
On Saturday a penalty from Ben Harvey gave the Bees an early lead, but that was swiftly cancelled out when a clearance kick was charged down and Rotherham's Neil Cochrane won the chase for the touchdown with WP Strauss improving the try.
Harvey trimmed the lead with a second penalty but that was nullified by a similar strike from Strauss. Rotherham extended their lead when Nick Baxter fumbled an inside pass, allowing Rotherham centre Lee Blackett to hack on and score with Strauss again adding the extras.
Harvey's accurate kicking kept the Bees in the hunt until just before half-time when Rotherham were rewarded for a period of sustained pressure with a try on debut from winger ND Monye, whose elder brother Ugo, scored for Harlequins at Sharmans Cross Road in the opening game of the season.
The Bees, to their credit, denied Rotherham another score in the second half, but they could not quite turn their pressure into sufficient points to manufacture a third win of the season.
Baxter latched on to a lovely chip from replacement fly-half to score the 146th try of his career. The veteran winger was making his 101st league appearance for the Bees having reached the century milestone at Bedford two weeks earlier.
Walsh added the conversion but could not find the target with two penalties which, as events proved, would have sealed victory.
Instead the Bees had to rely on a late try for Lamb and Walsh's conversion to snatch a losing bonus point.
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