BIRMINGHAM and Solihull Bees eased to a 22-0 friendly win against Rushden and Higham RFC in their latest pre-season outing.
Tries from Mikey Essex, Jack Allen, Harry Garrett and Sam Garrett secured a fine win for George Littlechild’s side at Portway.
The two teams previously met in the quarter-finals of last season’s Papa John’s Community Cup in which Rushden came out on top.
New Bees head coach Littlechild handed debuts to a number of players including Will Heath, Billy Jowett, Callum Razzak, Dan O’Sullivan and S Garrett.
An early injury saw Diaba Dee replace Callum Antonio before the Bees scored the game’s first try on 15 minutes as Essex crashed over to open the scoring.
The Bees defended superbly to keep Rushden’s backs at bay before Allen crossed after good work from Pete Gordon and Joe Rogers as Heath converted.
And Harry Garrett scored Solihull’s third try to send the Bees into the break with a 17-point lead.
Both Richard Beddard and Liam Dunne showed their experience in the second period to keep the Bees on top.
And Solihull completed the scoring late on as S Garrett touched down from Razzak’s selfless pass following an excellent team move.
Birmingham and Solihull Bees begin their league campaign away at Harbury on Saturday, September 7.
