BBC's MOTM

Facing the Giant Killers

Pertemps Bees came to Kingston Park on the back of that excellent win at Wasps and subsequent misfire at home to Orrell with coach Phil Maynard predicting the end of the line for his giant killers, and he was right, but he and his team can go away proud of the defensive effort they put in for 67 minutes before the unfortunate injuries sustained earlier to captain Ed Orgee and scrum half Paul Knight, added to Falcons’ superior fitness, led to five tries being leaked in those closing minutes. Most of the newspaper reports suggest that it was an undeserved margin of victory, and whilst I would agree to a certain extent, the fact is that the Bees at no stage looked like scoring a try, and spent much of the match pinned in their own half. Indeed, were it not for their own professionalism in using every method possible to prevent quick ball, together with the repeated home tactic of trying to power the ball over the line, it could have been much more.

Falcons played with the strong crosswind in the first half, and any early nerves were settled by two penalties from Dave Walder in the first eight minutes. One thing that was apparent early on was that the visitors were going to tackle anything that moved in a (lucky?) blue shirt, and that it would be a war of attrition and fitness.

Michael Stephenson (pictured right) was the first to threaten the try line, when after a lost Bees lineout in Falcons territory, Warren Britz and Tom May led the team up the field, before an Ian Peel offload to Stevo led to him motoring towards the corner, only to be hammered into touch by a desperate, brilliant Paul Knight (who subsequently picked up his rib injury). After 16 minutes, Bees escaped with a Walder missed penalty after Knight was caught offside at a scrum, but at this stage it was one way traffic, with Mayerhofler and May making the most forward progress, but the ball being grunted towards the line. It could even be said that whilst the pressure was on, Bees had their best try scoring chance of the game, with fly half Mark Woodrow making an interception, but try machine Nick Baxter could not gather his pass cleanly and have a go at running the length of the field.

On 26 minutes though, the first breach. Tom May’s initial thrust was stopped when a simple pass outside may have put Stephenson over, but recycled ball and further forward surges led to space for Hall Charlton to pass to Mayerhofler (pictured left), and the Kiwi managed to ground the ball fractionally over the line. Walder added the two from the easier side for kicking, and the breathing space was up to 13.

It was so nearly two in the 31st minute, when with acres of space, Nick Makin was taken into touch by a superb covering tackle by Baxter, which meant that the Falcons hooker grounded the flag before the ball and the video referee Nigel Yates was left with what the TV cameras proved to be a simple decision. At this point, Bees lost scrum half Knight (unfortunately for the rest of the season) to his rib injury, and we all wish him well for a full recovery. Two minutes later, the gap went up to 16 when prop Terry Sigley was penalised for hands in the ruck, and Walder nailed the kick from right in front. Surely the gap was now too big.

That’s not what the Bees thought. Mayerhofler went off his feet as Britz tried to secure a Woodrow kick through, and the fly half got the penalty after the false start of the ball falling over. 16-3 at half time could provide encouragement for the part-timers for the second half.

Half time Score: Falcons 16 - Bees 3

Whilst investing in a pork roll at half time, the South Stand bar had the BBC coverage on, and Jonathan Davies said that he felt that Falcons would have the shakes at the interval turning around into the wind. Hmmm. No disrespect to the Bees, but any professional team should be able to close a game out against part-timers with a thirteen point lead, even if Wasps had managed to blow an identical lead in the quarter final.

The first points would be vital - three of them came from Walder’s boot for a penalty for coming in from the side just two minutes into the half. By this point, Bees had lost skipper Orgee to another rib injury (best wishes also), and Falcons were soon to lose Britz to a blood injury, his replacement being Phil Dowson. The Bees’ tactic of Woodrow kicking the ball over the top trying to gain territory was being read every time, and Joe Shaw in particular was having one of his easier afternoons in being allowed to run the ball back and set up another attack.

On 47 minutes, Bees were lucky not to go down to 14 men when their lock Davidson was penalised for reckless use of the boot on Hugh Vyvyan under the touch judge’s nose, and it’s interesting to note that in his seven ZP games this season, Chris White’s only shown two yellow cards - a referee who wants to see the game flow, or one that’s too lenient? (that said, I do think that he’s the best referee in the country bar none).

On 53 minutes, Stuart Grimes found an enormous gap on halfway, and with Jon Dunbar in support, looked as if try number two was on the cards, but from the ruck, Stephenson ran into Ian Peel before crossing the line, and was pinged for accidental offside. The sustained pressure actually led to the ball going over the line, but Britz was held up over the line, and Falcons got another five metre scrum.

From this one, they weren’t going to be denied. Initial forays by Noon and Dunbar were repelled, but a Grindal pass led to Mayerhofler creating space for Walder to get the try.

Walder slid the conversion across the face of the posts, but the relief was evident amongst players and supporters - a 13 point lead could be overturned (unlikely, but possible), but a 21 point lead offered new security and reassurance.

Bees still in the game

The gaps were now starting to appear, but still the Bees had not lost their sting. Excellent tackling and little mistakes were preventing the lead from increasing, and it was enormous credit to the visitors that they were still technically in the game.

And then an unusual moment. Davidson went off injured for the Bees, and with all their forward replacements having been used, recently replaced prop Sigley was allowed to return to the field when it should have been a back being used (it was admitted after the match that front row players are only allowed to return if another front row is injured). It therefore meant that the Bees had a flanker in the second row, and Canadian international prop Kevin Tkachuk playing at flanker!

Stevo gets his try

Falcons were again held up over the line after a Grimes/Britz combination, and from the resultant scrum, a long pass out to Stephenson found the winger yet again forced into touch within two metres of the line, this time by centre Shaun Woof. The try was coming. On 67 minutes, it finally arrived. Falcons stole a lineout, fed the ball along the line to a still non-passing Tom May, but when the ball came back along the line, Stevo cut inside Baxter and finally got his try. The conversion was, well, memorable, in going less than fifteen metres before being caught by the wind and basically standing up.

Like an expectant mother, once the waters were broken they could now gush away. From the kick off, Makin recovered the ball on the floor, and passes from Grindal and Walder gave Jamie Noon the chance to burst to halfway from his midfield position. An inside ball to Britz, who then fed Phil Dowson, and his charge led to a return ball to Grindal, who then fed the charging wing…err, Stuart Grimes…to power over. An excellent score, but still too wide for Walder to convert. 34-3, and thoughts went to when the final tickets would be going on sale.

Fresh legs...

Lilley and Gollings replaced Shaw and Stephenson for the last ten minutes, and Lilley was involved with the next try, twice taking the ball on before Walder broke the line and scored under the posts - as if to say this is where I’d like to kick from! He’d probably have given up if he’s missed that conversion…

The Bees kept going, but it was now a question of how many. We didn’t have to wait long to find out. A Walder penalty kicked to touch gave Falcons a lineout on the Bees’ 22, and after the tank that was the Falcons pack were held up in centre field, Lilley’s long pass to Mayerhofler led to him running from the 22 to the corner for his second try of the game. It still wasn’t game over yet though, with the excellent Mayerhofler creating space this time for Lilley to charge towards the line, but as he was tackled just short, his offload was nudged on by Grindal’s foot, and Ben Gollings could pick up and go over from all of a yard. 53-3 the final score, and Falcons were off to pastures south and hopefully silver-lined.

Well deserved ovation

The Bees deserved a send off, and they got one. With the Falcons exiting the field relatively quickly, the part-timers were allowed the chance to milk the deserved applause from their supporters and, gratifyingly, the majority of the 5,895 in the ground, especially when they reached the still packed South Stand and received the ovation that was rightly theirs.

Upbeat

Post match, both camps were relatively upbeat. A proud yet disappointed Phil Maynard felt that at half time, turning around to get the advantage of the wind, his team were genuinely in with a chance, and that the combination of injuries at crucial times and it being a more physical game than that they usually experience in National One (particularly around the rucks and mauls), told on his men. He also felt that the last ten minutes were painful, but was pleased that the cup run had put Birmingham rugby on the map.

Rob thought that the Falcons were extremely professional for the whole game and put the icing on the cake at the end, but that they had to work hard after a stop-start first half. He wasn’t surprised at how good the Bees were, and credited them for being more competitive at the breakdown than he thought possible. Looking ahead to Twickenham, his only concern for the game would be which captain would be lifting the trophy at the end. Also, with tongue firmly in cheek, he said that he was looking for a final with five tries each to be concluded by a drop goal competition with Jonny and Charlie Hodgson coming off the bench to compete.

Back to near his best?

Dave Walder also thought that it could be a very open final, but pointed out that the last few games between Falcons and Sale at KP had been 12-9 and 9-8, so warned us all not to expect a high scoring game. He was pleased with his own form getting back to somewhere he knows he can play at, despite a couple of his kicks coming straight back at him.

All in all, a satisfying afternoon. Congratulations and thank you Birmingham Solihull, your team and your supporters have been a credit to the game, and I personally wish you well for the rest of this and all of next season.

For Falcons - now to complete the job.

Man of the Match

I know BBC game it to Jamie, but my pick would be the man who got the team flowing - Dave Walder. Honourable mentions for the rest of the team - it was a no win situation and they got the result required.

 

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All photographs are courtesy of MarkH and Newcastle Falcons.

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