1st XV
Matches
Sat 03 Sep 2022  ·  Regional 2 North East
Old Brodleians
25
17
Bradford & Bingley RFC
1st XV
Tries: L Spauls, J Daley, C CapperConversions: B Hemsley
Bees go down in Season opener

Bees go down in Season opener

Nick Patterson5 Sep 2022 - 14:45
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Plenty of positives, despite the result

After the traumatic season the Bees endured last year, there was a palpable relief amongst the visiting supporters at full time that, although their side had lost this opening fixture, it looks like the side will be competitive this time around and the club’s modest ambition to survive in this division looks achievable. Indeed, the consensus among the Bees supporters and players after the game was that Carl Paterson’s men were only a couple of errant passes away from winning this game as the visitors dominated territory and possession in the second half, but could only get over the whitewash twice, despite pinning their hosts inside the 22 for about 35 of the 40 minutes during that period.
Playing down the slope the home side started the game brightly and deserved to take an early lead as early pressure gave them a penalty in front of the posts inside the first two minutes. Six minutes later the home side ran in the first try of the game as the Old Brods’ pack got the upper hand in a maul close to the line, with one of their front row eventually breaking free to score. With the conversion added, it was perhaps looking like the Wagon Lane side might be in for a long day at the office.

However, as the game wore on, the Bees certainly were becoming more cohesive and the forwards were matching everything that their hosts could throw at them. However, the home side were able to capitalise on the chances that came their way and with the first quarter of the game complete, the home side were 22 points to the good, with the visitors yet to trouble the score board.
However, the Bees continue to battle hard and both centres, Joe Pearson and Jack Malthouse made good breaks up the middle and the Bees back row of Ed King, Jim Nicholas and David Exley were getting more involved, as the Bees picked up the pace and made several promising breaks deep into Old Brods territory. With the home side down to 14 men following a yellow card, the Bees looked to be gradually getting the upper hand.

On half and hour, the Bees pressure finally told as a neat handling move across from left to right, involving backs and forwards, put hooker, Luke Spauls, through to score. Ben Hemsley was narrowly wide with the conversion, but given the Bees would be playing the second half with the significant slope to their advantage, the 17 points the home side led by did not seem insurmountable.
Right from the off the Bees were deep into Old Brods’ territory but could not quite press home their advantage. With the slope of the pitch dropping away to the right hand corner, the Bees seemed intent in playing the game away from that side of the field and up towards the left hand touchline. At least two clear chances went begging as the final pass fired with some speed bounced off an unsuspecting player where a more measured approach may have resulted in a score.

After a full 25 minutes camped in the Brods half, the Bees were finally rewarded as concerted pressure near the line saw Second Row man, Joe Daley reaching out to score.

As the game ticked into the final quarter of an hour, the Bees supporters in the crowd thought there was surely enough time to get back into the Brods 22 and claim two more scores which might bring a victory for the Wagon Lane side, but it was the home side who were next to score. Having finally broken out of their own half, it was time for Old Brodleians to get on the front foot. There were a couple of charges forward up the left hand side of the field and increasingly desperate defence from the Bees eventually resulted in a penalty which pushed the home side 15 points clear with less than 10 minutes to play. This meant the visitors needed to score three times to claim the victory, but as the ball continued to be fumbled or passed the wrong way, the final play never seemed to be coming that would get the scoreboard moving. Then with around 4 minutes left, a moment of panic in the home defence saw the ball pop into the arms of wing man, Connor Capper, for a converted try.

Match details

Match date

Sat 03 Sep 2022

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Regional 2 North East

League position

5
Old Brodleians
9
Bradford & Bingley
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