BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Bees increased their lead at the top of the table without kicking a ball after they were handed an away walkover against Chaddesley Corbett.
The Bees’ opponents were unable to field a team and Solihull were therefore awarded the points whilst closest challengers Rugby Welsh slipped to a surprise defeat away at Kings Norton.
And the results mean Solihull now lead the Counties 3 Midlands West (South) table by 11 points although the teams below them have a game in hand.
Despite having no league fixture, Bees played Bournville 3rds in a friendly as head coach James Panter made a number of changes to his regular starting team.
This allowed several players to gain valuable minutes as the Bees ran in 10 tries in their first outing of the New Year.
Bees scored the game’s fist try when Adam Trombley pounced on a loose pass to score in the corner having pressured the Bournville line into a mistake.
A pair of quick tries followed as fly-half Cole Elleman broke the tackle and ran in underneath the posts with Lewis Edwards converting the try.
And Bees crossed again from the restart as winger PJ Hatch dotted down following a fast move that saw the ball move through several hands.
Solihull grabbed their fourth try when Elleman notched his second of the afternoon when he made the most of a Bournville fumble with Edwards again converting.
The visitors ran in their fifth try when Jonnie Mills’s powerful burst allowed the number 8 to crash over the whitewash with Edwards adding the extras.
Bournville notched their only try of the game after some sustained pressure down the right hand side eventually saw them cross for an unconverted score.
However, the Bees finished the half on the front foot as Harry Garrett crashed over following a fantastic passing sequence in the Solihull backs with Edwards kicking the conversion.
Solihull picked up where they left off after the break as Mills crossed for his second of the game before Ryan Sleaford scored a stunning solo try, running from his own 22-metre line to dow down under the posts.
Edwards eventually grabbed a try for himself after more good work in the backs and converted his own try.
And captain Joe Davies completed the scoring with Solihull’s 10th try which was duly converted by Edwards to seal a 62-5 victory.
Birmingham and Solihull are next in action at home to Coventrians on Saturday, January 14 with kick-off at 2.15pm at Portway.
