BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Bees suffered an agonising 25-18 defeat in the final of the Papa John’s Community Cup against Thornton-Cleveleys.
The Bees produced a stirring second-half comeback only to fall short in the final few minutes at Castle Park in Doncaster.
Lancashire-based Thornton-Cleveleys scored the game’s first try early on with the Bees behind inside the first five minutes.
And Thornton-Cleveleys scored their second try just before the quarter-hour mark to leave Solihull facing a 12-point deficit.
Thornton-Cleveleys dotted down for a third time before the break to stretch their lead to 17 points.
However, Will Heath kicked a penalty for the Bees shortly before the interval as Solihull finally troubled the scoreboard.
And the Bees made the perfect start to the second period when Adam Trombley crashed over the line and Heath converted after good work from Joe Rogers and Lewis Edwards.
Solihull crossed again on 53 minutes as Ryan Sleaford ran a superb line to dot down and close the gap to two points.
Thornton-Cleveleys lost a player to a yellow card soon after while the Lancashire club also saw a 45-yard penalty attempt sail wide of the posts.
And the Bees took the lead for the first time on 69 minutes as Heath kicked a penalty from 35-yards out.
However, Thornton-Cleveleys reclaimed the lead with six minutes left to play with a penalty of their own after the referee penalised Solihull for offside on the halfway line.
The Bees pushed hard for a late score only for Thornton-Cleveleys to run in a simple try with the final touch of the game.
