LEWIS Edwards kicked Birmingham and Solihull Bees into the second round of the Papa Johns Community Cup with a hard fought 14-13 win against Brackley RUFC.
Edwards kicked three penalties to guide the Portway club to victory as Ryan Sleaford scored Bees’ only try in a high quality affair at Nightingale Close.
And Bees will play Staffordshire-based side Rugeley at home in the second round on Saturday, April 15.
Both teams secured promotion from their respective leagues with Brackley unbeaten in a competitive fixture since September last year.
However, Bees took a 13th minute lead when Brackley were penalised for a mistake at the breakdown and Edwards kicked the game’s first points.
And Solihull eventually scored the game’s first try on 16 minutes as Sleaford showed blistering pace to touch down ahead of the chasing defenders in the corner from Edwards’ offload.
Brackley improved as the game wore on and finally troubled the scoreboard on 25 minutes when Harry Bartlett landed a penalty from range after Bees were caught offside.
Bees captain Joe Davies made a superb try-saving tackle just before half time to ensure Solihull went into the break with a five-point lead.
The home side ramped up the pressure in the second period as Bartlett kicked his second penalty on 43 minutes from in front of the posts.
However, Edwards kicked two penalties of his own in the space of 10 minutes to put two scores between the teams with 20 minutes left to play.
Brackley refused to go away and set up a grandstand finish when Russell Newman scored the game’s second try on 75 minutes with Bartlett’s conversion reducing the deficit to a single point.
Bees had the ball at the right end of the pitch in the closing stages and were awarded a penalty in the final few seconds as Edwards tapped and kicked into touch to bring an end to a captivating encounter.
