1st XV
Matches
Sat 24 Nov 2018  ·  North One East
Bradford & Bingley RFC
1st XV
Tries: T Johnson, S Roguski, J Malthouse, M Crotch, T BoothConversions: T Johnson (3)Yellow Carded: B Greaves
31
18
Percy Park
Tries: A BlairPenalties: M Grove (2)Yellow Carded: J Hedley
Bees 31-18 Percy Park

Bees 31-18 Percy Park

Benji Pickin28 Nov 2018 - 13:59
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Bees bag 5 points again

A fifth successive win for Anthony Posa's side sees the Bees as the form team in North One East, now perched in fifth position in the table. The Bees have played and lost to all four teams above them, but aside from a very poor performance in their defeat to York in mid October, the Bees players and supporters would probably think that those defeats were no indication of current form and would be reversed if the games were played now. Much of the attacking flair this Bees side is showing week in and week out flows out from the irrepressible play of number 10, Tom Johnson, but any side thinking that the Bees are a one -trick pony would be mistaken as the Bees have attacking weapons across the side and as the milder Saturdays of Autumn turner to the darker winter months, the Bees mid week preparation has started to include a far more physical focus as the Wagon Lane side look forward to playing in the rain and on mud rather than on a grassy track with the sun on their backs. Although the sleight of hand of Johnson will continue to be the pivot of the Bees midfield, the Wagon Lane side will be increasingly using the direct power running from midfield of Stefan "Beef" Roguski and Gene Te Amo if this performance against Percy Park is anything to go by. The Bees pack also enjoy direct running on the more agricultural surfaces found across North One East and Tom Booth, Tom Cummins, Ali Macdonald, Ante Majic and others in the Bees pack will no doubt be ploughing furrows up the middle of several fields over the coming weeks as the season grinds on. One forward who seems to particularly enjoy a gallop with the ball in hand when he is not involved in his front row duties, is Michael Crotch, and he celebrated his birthday in style with a 58th minute scoring effort which saw him on an arcing run around the final defenders to score under the posts from around a dozen metres out, a score which he will no doubt recollect as a fifty metre gallop around the whole 'Percy Park defensive line.

Percy Park had obviously not read the script for how the game was supposed to pan out and led at the half hour mark, six points to nil, thanks to two Michael Grove penalty kicks. It then took a moment of individual skill from Johnson to get the home side on the scoreboard and with the same player slotting the conversion, it was 7-6 with five minutes to play in the first half. The Bees were getting the ball into the hands of Roguski and Te Amo as often as possible and Te Amo, who took the man of the match award, in particular seemed to be enjoying picking out a Percy Park defender to run at or over and when Roguski skipped through just before half time, the use of the direct run into the heart of the defence proved its worth. After the sides turned round, top scorer, Jack Malthouse collected his ninth five pointer in nine appearances this season in the 44th minute, the third game in a row where Malthouse has opened the Bees second half scoring with a gallop to the whitewash. It took another 14 minutes for the home side to increase their lead with Crotch's charge under the posts to collect his third score of the season, and as the Bees swapped the side around, the lead was suddenly reduced with the concession of a penalty try, with around ten minutes to play, but before Percy Park had chance to settle back into the game, skipper Tom, Booth was over the whitewash to seal the win with the fifth try of the game for the Bees in the 72nd minute. Percy Park added a late consolation try through Alistair Blair.

By
Nick Patterson

Match details

Match date

Sat 24 Nov 2018

Kickoff

14:15

Location

Competition

North One East

League position

5
Bradford & Bingley
6
Percy Park
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt and Board Sponsors - Mortgage Advice Bureau
Ground Sponsor - Shama Bingley
Club Board Manufacturers - Applelec
Shorts Sponsor - Hemsley Goldthorpe Financial Services
Board Sponsor - Foundry Hill Bar & Lounge
Stand Sponsor - Lucid Events
Mound Sponsor - Duncan Barr Associates Limited
Entrance Board Sponsor - Emerald Group Publishing
Official Gym - Nuffield Health
Official Team Travel Supplier - J & B Travel
Official Charity - Bradford & Airedale Cancer Sup