One that got away perhaps?

The last four fixtures between the Bees and Durham City have been decided by three points or less and when Durham snuck into a one point lead three minutes into the second half from an interception, it looked odds on that the end result would be decided by the odd score. The feeling in the home changing room after the game was that this was a game that should have been The Bees' first victory of the season. Most people in the crowd at Wagon Lane would possibly agree with that sentiment and would probably add that if the home side chose to the clear their lines with an old fashioned boot to touch, then the game was there for the winning. As it was the difference between the sides were two passages of play in the Bees twenty two where the home side gifted their visitors scores. The first came from that interception in the 43rd minute where the home side decided a passing move from right to left was the best way to get out from under their posts. The fourth or fifth pass in that sequence was horribly misplaced and a Durham player had the easiest of jobs in catching a free ball and jogging home for the score. The second gifted score came on 65 minutes as the ball came loose from a pile up deep in the Bees twenty two allowing a Durham forward to pick up the free ball and belly flop gleefully over the whitewash. Both those scores could have been avoided if any one of the Bees backs had the confidence to put boot to ball and knock a clearance kick in the general direction of the touchline or even down the field into the wide open spaces behind Durham's attacking line.

Ben Hockenhull had opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a penalty but that lead was short-lived as Durham replied with a try on nine minutes. As the end of the first quarter approached The Bees put together their best attack of the half and when Cameron Bainbridge appeared on the left wing to collect the final pass of a sweeping move from right to left, there was no stopping Bainbridge as he hared to the line. Hockenhull improved the home advantage with a penalty on 27 minutes and although both sides bumped and barged with conviction, there were no further scores in the half. The Bees began the second period with that 11-5 advantage but were soon pinned back in their own quarter of the field. Then came the interception try which gave Durham a 12-11 lead. The visitors improved that lead to 19-11 on 56 minutes, but there appeared to be no reason to panic as both sides were seeing plenty of the ball and it appeared that the Bees were playing well on the front foot. On 61 minutes their enterprise was rewarded as Bainbridge passed to Hockenhull and looped around his man to collect the return pass. Accelerating away from the final defenders, Bainbridge was over to the right of the posts pulling the Wagon Lane side to within a point of their visitors after Hockenhull slotted the extras. However, the Bees were unable to clear their lines and from the next passage of play in the home 22, the ball was gifted to Durham for the game winning score. Unfortunately the eight point difference between the sides meant that the Bees could not claim the bonus point while their visitors went home with a full five points.