With a 25-3 halftime lead, the backline again looking sharp and their opponents tiring the Saxons looked set to give their points difference a decent boost in the second half. But the old heads in a streetwise, dogged Bees succeeded in dragging them into an attritional spoiling game and it wasn’t until the 65th minute that the bonus point 4th try was scored.

The Garner brothers dropped to the bench as loosehead prop Mike Hill returned from injury and hooker Jordan Page made his first September start in 3 seasons. Ciaran Moore also dropped to the bench to accommodate the returning Rodders. Bees kicked off into a fresh southerly breeze defending the roadside end.

With the Saxons pressing an early attack Bees’ skipper Will Radburn conceded the first scoring opportunity when he strayed offside in his own 22, Jamie Hearn slotting the penalty kick between the uprights. 8min 3-0. Bees pulled the advantage back though when Ben Barkley was penalised for a late tackle on Bees’ outside half Canning who got up to land a well struck penalty from wide right, 16min 3-3.

A Bees scrum offence drew a free kick award which scrum half Pete White tapped and ran, the supporting Rodley making a clean line break. The cover brought him down in Bees’ 22 but White managed to work quickly recycled ball to the right despite the attention of Bees’ 2nd row Matt Spink who illegally dived over the ruck to deflect the pass. The ball came to the feet of Page who kicked it neatly through the stretched defensive line and won the footrace to ground it. Hearn’s conversion attempt flew wide however, 19min 8-3.

The Saxons advanced downfield again and secured a scrum feed in Bees 22. The backs probed the defences first to the left before the attack was switched back to the right where a loose pass fell to the feet of centre Stefan Shillingford. Much as Page had before he half-volleyed it through the defensive line, hared after it and was rewarded with a kind bounce that he dotted down unchallenged for his 4th league try in 3 games. This time Hearn made no mistake with the conversion, 26min 15-3.

The Saxons secured the restart and after a few probes at the fringe defences outside half Gary Dipple spotted a mismatch and ghosted past a Bees prop in the midfield defensive line. The ball went to White and then Mukarati who was just hauled down short of the line by a last-ditch tackle. It was worked quickly left though where Dipple finished off the attack he’d started by sidestepping a defender to score, Hearn again converting. 29min 22-3.

Radburn was caught offside again in defence in his own 22, captain Robbie Hurrell spurned the easy 3 points in favour a kick to the corner and the opportunity to secure the bonus point. Bees’ defences held but then conceded another penalty in the tackle area which the Saxons opted to scrum, twice repeating the option as the Bees defence coughed up further penalties. The pressure was relieved though when tighthead prop Mark George was penalised in the scrum, Bees clearing their lines but with the halftime whistle imminent Bees transgressed again in the tackle enabling Hearn to slot a penalty from their midfield. Halftime 25-3.

The Saxons were back in attack early in the 2nd half, drawing a couple of penalties from the Bees defence but Hearn’s penalty attempt into the wind flew wide. They pressed again from the dropout and referee’s Leahy’s patience was finally pushed too far by the Bees’ defence with scrum half Rod Petty sinbinned for a cynical offence on his own line. The Saxons kicked for the corner again but struggled to drive the attack home against a galvanised Bees’ defence that eventually cleared their lines. When Hearn was then caught offside chasing a White infield chip out of the Saxons’ 22 Bees’ 14 men smelt blood, they kicked for the corner and their forwards drove a maul over the Saxons line, flanker Rob Connolly grounding for the try. Canning converted, 58min 25-10.

The Saxons’ next attack came to nothing as Mr Leahy penalised the pack for pulling a scrum round, but Bees’ front row were penalised in turn, enabling White to kick for position. His kick failed to find touch however and Bees hoofed it deep downfield to fullback Matt Farrington who launched a counterattack. The ball was recycled near halfway where White spotted a hole in the Bees defence and planted a neat left foot chip over the head of the winger defending the clubhouse side. Farrington chased it, was rewarded with a favourable bounce and grounded for a try that Hearn converted. 66min 32-10.

Both sides continued to attack but the Saxons started coughing up penalties on a regular basis, preventing them putting any sustained pressure on the tiring Bees defences. Bees’ foray into the Saxons’ 22 also ended in a penalty conceded for obstruction in the lineout, and with a steady flow of tactical substitutions the game had lost much of its shape by the time the final whistle sounded. Job done for the Saxons - 5 league points secured - but the match video will again provide the coaching staff with much material to work on in training.

Coach Mike Umaga commented : “clearly there are things we still need to work on, having done such great work in the first half we should have been ruthless and put the game away. My man of the match was Nile Dacres who did exactly what had been asked of him, going through a huge amount of work off the ball”.