Game against our closest neighbour played in an excellent spirit

Because of the mid-term holiday and last week's game we just had 15 players for a game with our closest neighbour. Fraser took charge of the team today and ran them through an excellent warm-up and ensured each player knew what was expected of them. Some were playing in unfamiliar positions and Aaron White made his Bees debut on the right wing.

There was some robust forward play with the Bees gaining forward momentum throughout the game through some excellent driving through the Basildon cover, particularly by Marcus, LJ, Lewis, with Reggie, Jamie, Cam, Connor and Nathan all doing their bit. Basildon had some strong forwards and ran hard at our forwards. Connor, Reggie, Jamie and Nathan all put in some great tackles. The scrummaging was good most of the time, with both sides occasionally winning against the head.

Sam played a very good game at scrumhalf with some excellent distribution of the ball, selling the defence a couple of excellent dummies, with the highlight being a cheeky well-taken try under the posts. Jasper kept the back line moving, with Ollie, James, Ellis, Seb and 'Two try debut Aaron' all contributing to some excellent scores.

The game started well, with both sides sharing territory and possession. The Bees drove into Basildon's 22 and LJ drove over the line to score our first try. James converted - 7 : 0. After collecting the ball form the kick-off the Bees attacked and then repelled a counter attack from Basildon. After a couple of drives to halfway the ball was passed along the line to 'Two try debut Aaron' who took the ball at speed and did a wonderful sidestep to run in his first try - 12 : 0.

After some competitive rucking and mauling, the Bees drove into the Basildon 22. LJ was held up about eight yards out - it took three opposition players to stop him but he managed to get to ground, Sam picked up, spotted a gap and backed himself to score under the posts - 17 : 0.

The Bees 4th try came from an excellent break by Cam who was stopped by a truly excellent tackle from the Basildon fullback. Jasper was quick to gather the ball and changed the direction of the attack with a flying pass to Marcus who ran strongly to score in the left corner - 22 : 0.
Basildon, roared on by their supporters, drove through the middle of the field and scored their first try to leave the score 22 : 5. Just before halftime the Bees, through three phases, drove up the middle of the park with LJ being held up 6 yards out. In the tackle, LJ managed to offload the ball to 'Two try debut Aaron' who ran in unopposed for his second try to give us a 27 : 5 lead at halftime.

The second half commenced with some excellent driving play by both teams. Lewis gathered the ball and ran 20/25 yards before being stopped. He managed an excellent offload to Marcus who had run a brilliant supporting line to score under the posts - 32 : 5.
Basildon were not taking this lying down and showed some grit and determination of their own to drive into our 22 and score - 32 : 12. Apologies, I missed the scorer of our next try - 37 : 12.

Both teams were beginning to tire by now with strong runners on both teams beginning to find space. James gathered a ball mid-way between our 22 and halfway lines and ran around 4/5 tackles to score an excellent try under the posts. He converted it to leave the scores 44 : 12. The Basildon out half then ran in an excellent try from halfway - 44 : 17.

Our backline was running at speed at the Basildon defence. James and 'Two try debut Aaron' were unlucky not to add to their totals.

We added one more try, apologies I missed the scorer.

Not to be outdone by our free running backs, Marcus gathered the ball in our half and ran 35 yards, evading three tackles before being stopped in their 22. He managed a brilliant one handed offload to Lewis, who was stopped 5 yards out. He managed to offload to Jasper who finished off an excellent move - 56 : 17.

The Bees were taking full advantage of the extra space opening. The Basildon fullback made two wonderful tackles on LJ (one when he was running at full speed – brave lad). Our final score came when Ollie gathered the ball just outside the Basildon 22 and ran in to score – 63 : 17.
I’d like to commend Cam for a great piece of sportsmanship. In the first half, he made a wonderful break only to be stopped by a great tackle from their fullback. 'Two try debut Aaron' had run an excellent supporting line and an offload from Cam would have meant a walk in try from the 22 for 'Two try debut Aaron'. Cam recognised what he had (not) done and immediately went to 'Two try debut Aaron' to apologise.
In summary, some really excellent performances, 11 tries scored, some players playing in different positions and a great afternoon had by almost all of the team.

Sorry to end on a bad note, but one of our players walked off the pitch before the end of the game because some of his teammates had criticised him and said the team would be better off without him. Can you all speak to your sons and let them know that such behaviour and comments will not be tolerated? This will be addressed at training on Tuesday.