Injury update

By Elliott Josypenko
March 1 2005

Pertemps Bees will be without openside flanker Tom Jordan for the Powergen Challenge Shield semi-final against National League One rivals Bedford Blues at Sharmans Cross Road on Saturday March 5 (2pm).

Jordan is cup-tied for the game having played for Stourbridge against Coventry in the fourth round of the Powergen Cup earlier in the season while he was on loan at the National Two club.
Jordan played in last Saturday's league defeat at Plymouth Albion but his place is likely to go to Nathan Carter provided the former Gloucester and Worcester player has recovered from the neck injury he sustained in the defeat by Bristol.
Pertemps Bees will check on the eligibility of another openside flanker, Stean Williams, before they decide whether to include him in the squad as cover for Carter. Williams, who previously had spells with Moseley, Bristol and Henley, joined Pertemps Bees from Coventry last week.
Apart from Carter's likely return Pertemps Bees expect to be unchanged for the tie which will see the winners progress to the final at Twickenham on April 16. Plymouth Albion entertain Bristol in the other semi-final.
Saturday's game is expected to attract a capacity crowd to Sharmans Cross Road as Bedford have already sold their allocation of 1,200 tickets for the game.
Tickets ill be on sale at the Pertemps bees club offices from 9am to 1pm each day this week and a limited number of tickets will also be available on the day.


Pertemps Bees director of rugby Phil Maynard hopes the Powergen Shield semi-final against Bedford Blues on March 5 will rekindle memories of last season's Powergen Cup campaign.

Solihull-based Bees stormed to the semi-finals of the Cup by stunning London Wasps 28-24 at the Causeway Stadium in the biggest cup upset since rugby went professional.

It was a win that put the National One club on the rugby map but the Bees have struggled to live up to expectations this season, slumping into the bottom half of the table after they led the division in October with five consecutive maximum points wins.

"We have found it a little difficult to live up to expectations this season," Maynard admitted. "We enjoyed the publicity and the profile that the cup run gave us last season but this season has been a bit of anti-climax.

"We are not going to get promoted or relegated so we have made the Shield the focus of our season. The chance to play at Twickenham is a huge incentive for a club like ours and we hope that the competition will raise our profile in the same way that the cup did 12 months ago.

"It's very different preparing the side for the Bedford semi to the anticipation that preceded the Wasps and Newcastle games last year. But it's a game that has certainly captured the imagination of the public and it's an occasion we are looking forward to."

Bedford have already sold more than 1,200 tickets for the tie and the Bees are expecting a crowd of around double that number to pack their homely Sharmans Cross Road headquarters.

Ironically the Bees' cup success last season meant they disqualified themselves from participation in the Shield and their place was taken in the competition by Waterloo, who they defeated in the fourth round of the cup.

"We wanted the chance to pit ourselves against the best clubs outside the Premiership and we have got that this season," Maynard said.

With Solihull, the Bees' amateur arm, in action in the Powergen Junior Vase semi-final at North Bristol on Saturday, there is a double incentive for Maynard's side to book a trip to Twickenham on April 16.

"If we could both get to Twickenham on the same day that would be a fantastic day out and a great achievement for the area," Maynard said.

The Bees are expected to recall former Gloucester and Worcester openside flanker Nathan Carter for the Bedford tie. Carter missed last Saturday's narrow league defeat at Plymouth Albion because of neck injury but Tom Jordan is cup-tied having appeared for Stourbridge against Coventry in the Powergen Cup earlier in the season.




Solihull will be keeping one eye on events back home at Sharmans Cross Road when they take on North Bristol in the semi-finals of the Powergen Junior Vase on Saturday March 5 (2pm).

While Solihull are attempting to reach a Twickenham final for the first time Pertemps Bees, their sister club and landlords, will be at home to Bedford Blues in the Powergen Shield semi-final. The finals of both competitions will be playedb at Twickenham on April 16 and both Solihull and Pertemps Bees hope to make it a big rugby day out for the borough.

"It would be fantastic if we could both get to Twickenham, what a fantastic day out that would be," said Solihull spokesman Richard Gamlin.

"That's a big incentive for both of us and I'm sure there will be a lot of text messages and phone calls between Bristol and Solihull on saturday afternoon.

"I'm sure there would be disappointment if only one of us got to Twickenham but there would still be a lot of support from the other club on the day. If neither of us wins on Saturday, that would be a disaster and it doesn't really bear thinking about."

Solihull, effectively the amateur arm of National One club the Bees, will be aiming to complete a league a cup double having secured promotion to Midlands Three West next season by beating Old Halesonians last weekend.

That is their fourth promotion since the club was relaunched only five years ago. The presence of around a dozen former Bees first team players has helped Solihull's impressive progress but Gamlin insists that Sheffield Tigers are favourites for the competition.

"Sheffield were the side that we wanted to avoid when the draw for the semis was made," he said. "They have some former Sheffield and Rotherham players in their side from what we hear and we were pleased to avoid them.

"That's no disrespect to North Bristol. We are expecting a hard game down there and, from the homework we have done on them, they are going to be strong up front. We won't be complacent because we know that if we are we are likely to slip up."

Solihull will be without former bees and Nottingham flanker John Brennan who damaged cruciate knee ligaments two weeks ago, an injury that will keep him sidelined for the rest of the season.

Otherwise they will select from a full strength squad which will include former Nottingham, Coventry and Birmingham & Solihull winger Andy Smallwood who was playing National One rugby only two years ago.