By Roger Clarke - Birmingham Mail
February 17 2006

Whether there is relegation or not from National One this season is still in the lap of the gods, or at least behind the blazers and club ties of the RFU committee charged with deciding whether to expand the national leagues - which is what the 54 of the 56 clubs want. Whether there is relegation or not from National One this season is still in the lap of the gods, or at least behind the blazers and club ties of the RFU committee charged with deciding whether to expand the national leagues - which is what the 54 of the 56 clubs want.

But Phil Maynard, director of rugby of Pertemps Bees, is taking no chances. His target this season, as every season, is to finish out of the bottom two and be as big as nuisance as possible to every team he meets.

Maynard delights in being the underdog who bites back against the full-timers who are slowly taking over the division.

But he is also a realist. Bees will have their days in the sun every season when Maynard's well- drilled bunch of enthusiastic parttimers will shock star teams with four times the playing budget.

But each year the battle to avoid relegation will become harder among the dwindling band of part-timers.

Bees are third bottom after losing 30-29 at Coventry but Maynard, who would have liked all five points, was consoled with two after his side scored four tries including two from on-fire winger Aaron Takarangi.


Maynard said: "It is always going to be close. We knew we were in a dogfight but we are doing all right.


"We have Nottingham, Newbury and Otley all to play (all in the bottom seven) which are must-win matches but it is the same for them."


London Welsh leapfrogged Bees with a 30-21 win over Nottingham but Maynard said: "London Welsh's runin, their last four games, are Plymouth, Harlequins, Penzance and Bedford - arguably, are they going to win any of them?


"By and large we are playing some very good rugby and with limited resources we are doing very well.


"We had a blip around Christmas which we addressed and since then the players have put everything, heart and soul, into it and you can't ask for more than that."