By Elliott Josypenko
March 8 2005

Phil Maynard has set Pertemps Bees a target of 15 points from their final six games after being dumped out of the Powergen Shield on Saturday. The director of rugby has no concerns about lifting the team for Saturday's home clash with Rotherham.

He said: "The equation has become very simple. We are now definitely looking to rebuild the team.

"We are setting a reasonable goal, 15 points out of 30, which is well within our range and the players have got to decide if they want to stay at the club or not.

"They are playing for their futures."

Maynard is still upset about Saturday's defeat when one of his former players, Leigh Hinton, landed five penalties to take Bedford through to Twickenham 15-7.

He said: "We tried to play rugby and were naive. We did not play to the plan and people have to take responsibility for that. Bedford played cup rugby and used the conditions better than we did."

Bees' points came from a Hese Fakatou try and Tim Walsh conversion.

Hinton's kicking kept Bees pegged back for much of the game. It was only the lure of full-time rugby which enticed him away from Bees.

He left to join the professional ranks at Orrell and is now at Bedford.

Bees have already set in motion the first moves to becoming a professional club and Maynard said that that will be the only way forward.

Professional rugby would probably need larger crowds, though, and on Saturday most of the support was wearing the blue of Bedford.

Maynard said: "We perhaps could have activated our mini & junior section better and it just so happens that Solihull took three coachloads down with them to North Bristol in the Powergen Junior Vase.

"If you have friends, or relatives playing in the other team you are going to go to that one - it was a case of club success conspiring against us."

*Bees are expected to recall hooker Ben Gerry from a loan spell with National Three North side Dudley Kingswinford for the game with Rotherham.

Solihull-born Gerry played as a back-row forward with Leicester Tigers and Bristol but he has been converted to hooker since he joined Pertemps Bees last summer.