But a rally by the home side denied them possession for long tracts of the 2nd half, sin-binnings 2&3 and multiple handling errors making for to a stuttering performance that saw them clinging on to the lead rather than threatening to secure the bonus point.

After a scheduled week off the Saxons lineup was reshuffled from the pre-Christmas derby against DK. The most notable change was the selection of longterm injury victim Sam Robinson at fly half, his first appearance in Saxons’ colours since Mar 10th 2012. Gary Dipple dropped to bench duties where he was joined by recent re-recruit Jon Higgins, last seen in action for the club back in 2010-11. With Robbie Hurrell unable to train midweek Ben Hughes was preferred at 2nd row, Dale Garner stepping up to starting hooker and Scott Wright taking the bench spot where he was joined by Ciaran Moore.

Midweek gales had been accompanied by torrential rain and the main Portway pitch was unsurprisingly declared unfit following a mid-morning inspection. The hastily roped off 2nd XV pitch was in much better state however, albeit very sticky underfoot. 400 odd spectators included a travelling coachload from Stourton Park, the game went ahead as scheduled at 2pm but without the aid of floodlights which made for very gloomy 2nd half viewing as the sun hid behind cloud before finally reappearing to providing a spectacular sunset shortly after the final whistle.

Bees kicked off, the aerial kick exchange won by the Saxons thanks to a good catch by Chris Depper and Pete White’s tidy touchfinder into Bees’ 22. That Bees’ lineout would present more of a challenge than DK’s became immediately obvious when they secured their own throw then turned over a rather scruffy Saxons’ tap near halfway, but fly half Rod Petty’s speculative chip drew a penalty when Tom Jarvis was tackled in the air. It was kicked to touch in Bees 22 where the throw was secured at the tail and a couple of drives drew an eminently kickable penalty award for the tackler not rolling away, but Jamie Hearn’s shot at goal flew to the right of the posts.

After several probes of Bees’ defences with ball in hand the Saxons opted for a kick exchange which secured a lineout just outside Bees 22. With possession secured Sam Robinson chipped into the 22 from where fullback Oscar Heath ran it back, evading some innocuous tackles before punting deep into the Saxons 22 for a big territorial gain as Jarvis was left the poorest of angles to kick from. Bees’ drives found the Saxons’ defences hard to break down, a turnover enabling them to clear their lines then Bees were caught offside. The alert White tapped and ran, making good distance before linking right with Nathan Bressington but the scramble defence just held out, conceding a lineout near Bees’ 22. The Saxons worked a catch & drive which got within 10m of the line before it was disrupted illegally, with no advantage coming they opted to kick to the corner and repeat the exercise, Nile Dacres the man to ground the ball as the maul was driven over the tryline. Hearn slotted the conversion, 12min 0-7.

Bees’ pack recovered the restart kick while Depper was receiving treatment, Petty kicked wide over the head of Bressington who grounded the ball in his in-goal but was adjudged to have taken the ball back in so conceded feed at the first scrum of the game. A front row penalty was followed by a kick to the corner, Bees’ attempted catch & drive disrupted illegally with a side entry that drew a lecture from referee Tom Davis. Bees opted for another lineout followed by a set of drives that were held out but at the cost of a yellow card for Dale Garner for not clearing the tackle area. Against a depleted defence Bees reloaded and went for the corner again, but they failed to secure their lineout ball then gave away a soft offside penalty allowing the Saxons to clear their lines.

A kick exchange gave Jarvis and Hearn some space to move the ball down the left flank before White kicked again to the corner, Heath misjudging the stickiness of the surface and bounce of the ball to concede an attacking 5m scrum rather than the 22 dropout he intended. On came Scott Wright with Depper the man sacrificed and Nigel Mukarati moving to 8. With Hearn packing down on the blindside flank the Saxons pack drove forward, drawing first a penalty then a free kick that they opted to scrum. The next one wheeled but openside Eji Uzoigwe had the presence of mind to pick the ball up from his feet before it went 90º and strolled unopposed into the corner to score. Hearn landed a difficult conversion from wide out, 24min 0-14.

The restart was followed by kick exchanges that drew a Saxons’ handling error near halfway. The depleted Saxons’ pack got a nudge on forcing Petty to kick away back-foot possession that Bressington promptly fired straight back into Bees’ corner. Petty covered and looked to chip over the advancing chase but it fell into the hands of the covering Uzoigwe who linked with Stef Shillingford. With the defences all at sea he handed off one tackler then threw a dummy and sprinted clear to score. Hearn couldn’t add the extras. 29min 0-19, two tries to nil while the Saxons were down to 14 men.

The customary kick exchanges followed the restart, Petty asking questions of the defences under the high ball and the Saxons conceding territory by kicking out on the full after taking it back into their 22. Bees’ catch & drive was disrupted illegally enabling them to kick for the corner, but captain Will Radburn burnt the opportunity by running away from his support and conceding a penalty for holding on as the Saxons counter-rucked. The Saxons drove back upfield, with just 2 minutes left in the half securing a kickable penalty that they opted to kick for the corner, but possession was carelessly conceded when an attacker went off his feet at the tackle and the half ended without further incident. Halftime 0-19.

The 2nd half started promisingly enough with the Saxons in attack, but White’s attempted grubber rebounded off a defender and came to the covering Sam Robinson. But he wasn’t on the same wavelength as Jarvis and an attempted switch move resulted in a penalty when he picked up from the knock-on. The attack was repelled, Bees driven off their own scrum ball and the kick chase securing a lineout near halfway. But Petty intercepted a pass in the next drive, the cover scrambled across effectively but Jarvis took a yellow card for his attempts to slow the ball down at the tackle. Bees kicked for the corner and ground a set of drives forward, no.8 Chris Goddard the man in possession as the ball was grounded. Over went the conversion, 47min 7-19.

The restart went straight into the hands of Petty who kicked deep over Bressington’s head and drew a handling error as he tried to gather. Bees were beaten back though, a maul driven deep into their territory before White’s kick found touch in the corner. A Bees maul got held up deep in their 22, conceding a scrum which wheeled again but the Saxons launched a set of short drives from which a try looked inevitable before Dr Davis again penalised an attacker off his feet. Bees tapped and ran from the shadow of their posts, kicking into the wide spaces where Jarvis would have been covering, but the alert Bressington got to the ball first and defused the threat.

A Bees handling error was hoofed downfield, giving the Saxons another attacking platform in the 22 but again Bees wheeled the scrum successfully to regain possession. They got little distance on the clearance kick but another opportunity went begging when the Saxons were free kicked for taking too long to set the lineout. White kicked turnover ball downfield for Hearn, but his hack forward was covered by the sole defender and the Bees defences regrouped. You could perceive the confidence starting to wane as quickly as the light, ball carriers failing to get over the gain line, tacklers falling off Bees open field runners and handling errors mounting up. A Bees attack reaching the Saxons’ 22 where sub Gary Dipple also picked up a yellow card for failing to release in the tackle. Bees tapped and ran but the defences held firm. With the clock running down White again kicked turnover ball for a chase to the corner but it was slightly overcooked and went out on the full. Bees again tried to kick over Bressington in pursuit of their own bonus point but he was alert and cleared the danger. With the darkness now making open play very difficult the Saxons struggled to string any phases together, the game ending much as the 2nd half had unfolded with a Saxons handling error followed by a mad scramble to prevent a Bees hack though resulting in a breakaway try. Fulltime 7-19.

Coach Mike Umaga commented ‘A good 1st half performance set us up nicely but it’s happened again and we’ve come away thinking ‘what if ?’. We never got going 2nd half, we talked at halftime about playing the game in the right places but it’s difficult to do that when you commit so many unforced errors. It was good to see Sam Robinson back on the park today, but my man of the match was Pete White who was accurate in everything he did and mixed his game up really well’.