BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Bees produced a superb performance to inflict a first home defeat of the season on Pershore with a 32-7 bonus point victory in Worcestershire.
Jonnie Mills crossed twice in the first half for the Bees as PJ Hatch, Ryan Sleaford and Lewis Edwards all scored tries in a fine win at Piddle Park.
The result means Solihull remain top of the Counties 3 Midlands West (South) table, three points clear of Rugby Welsh who have a game in hand.
And Bees were up against a strong Pershore side who began the day in third place and had won all five of their home matches this season.
Solihull put Pershore on the back foot straight from kick-off and scored the game’s first try when Hatch ripped the ball from a home player and raced underneath the posts from 30-yards out with Edwards adding the conversion.
The Bees pressed with great intensity, led by the returning Josh Reader, and forced Pershore into a number of handling errors.
And the pressure eventually told when Mills powered over for the Bees second try as he left a trail of defenders in his wake with Edwards again kicking the extras.
However, Pershore responded with a smart try on the counter attack to halve the deficit before the break after Solihull dropped the ball just inside the home side’s half.
From the restart, the visitors grabbed their third try as Mills galloped away to score his second of the afternoon on the stroke of half time to send the Bees into the break with a 12-point lead.
And scrum-half Jake Lowe continued to control the game superbly for Solihull in the second period as his pass set up Sleaford to cross for the Bees’ bonus point try.
The visitors made sure of the points when Edwards kicked and chased the ball to score in the corner after Solihull’s pressure forced another fumble in the Pershore line.
And Edwards added a penalty to Solihull’s total with virtually the last kick of the game to add some gloss to the scoreline in a fine performance.
Birmingham and Solihull are next in action at home to Rugby Welsh on Saturday, November 26 in a top of the table clash with kick-off at 2.15pm at Portway.
