BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Bees secured their first home win of the season with a thrilling 30-27 victory against Old Wheatleyans.
Tries from Diaba Dee, Will Heath, Cameron May and Jack Shelton sealed a fine win while Archie Beddard added 10 points from the kicking tee as the lead changed hands on six separate occasions at Portway.
And the result means the Bees sit seventh in the Counties 2 Midlands West (East) table.
The Bees rang the changes as Dee came in to start his first game after two years out with an ACL injury while head coach George Littlechild also took to the pitch from the off.
Solihull made the worst possible start as Old Wheatleyans crossed for the game’s first try after just two minutes with a score under the posts.
And the visitors struck again soon after with an unconverted try to take an early 12-point lead.
However, the Bees responded with Diaba crashed over and Beddard converted to reduce the deficit.
And Jack Allen then released Heath to score unchallenged following a period of sustained pressure as Beddard’s conversion put the Bees ahead.
Beddard kicked a penalty to stretch Solihull’s lead after Old Wheatleyans were caught offside.
However, the Bees failed to clear the ball off the pitch on the stroke of half time which allowed Old Wheatleyans to score a converted try and leave Solihull two points behind at the interval.
And Old Wheatleyans struck again early in the second half with a score from 40-yards out before Beddard kicked another penalty to close the gap to four points.
The Bees then lost Shaun Pollard-Jenkins to a yellow card for putting his hands in the ruck in his last game for the club before he moves to Australia.
However, Solihull reclaimed the lead when Joe Rogers kicked ahead for Heath who in-turn passed to May who scored from 22-yards out to put the home side back in front.
Straight from the restart, the visitors won a penalty which they successfully converted from in front of the posts as the lead changed hands once again.
There was still time for one final twist as replacement Jack Shelton, called onto the bench having played for the club’s Hornets side the same day, finished off a flowing move from 30-yards out as he brushed off two tackles to score and win the game for the Bees while securing a bonus point in the process.
Birmingham and Solihull are next in action against Broadstreet II on Saturday, November 9.
