The Bath Killer Bees progressed to 6-0, continuing their unbeaten run, after a 30-12 win over the Bristol Barracuda.
The Bath Killer Bees progressed to 6-0, continuing their unbeaten run, after a 30-12 win over the Bristol Barracuda.
The past couple of weeks have been ones of varied outcomes for the Bees. The nail-biting cross town rivalry game against Bath Spa was much closer than predicted and the Cardiff game being cancelled sent murmurs about Bath’s legitimacy around the league. The Cuda game provided a serious opportunity for Bath to edge one step closer to winning the SWAC conference for the first time in history and set them back on the right track after their wobble against the Bulldogs.
The Bees started well, gaining some early momentum. The offense was firing, pulling off several big gains to propel them from their own 20. The aerial and ground attack combined well with RBs Bobby ‘Screech’ Nightingale and Simon Vanstone setting the tone. Deji Alli then pounded the ball in from short distance with Michael Hutchinson notching on the XP putting Bath up 7-0.
After the ensuing kickoff captains Alex Reilly and Ken Barlow led the defense out to try and capitalise on the situation. After several decent runs by Cuda, Le Timmy Gallot put in a crunching hit forcing a fumble which was recovered by rookie DE Joe Lear. As the offense took the field they continued as they began, driving well with long gains. The productivity dropped nearing the goal line, and an ill-timed hold from one Robert Hussey meant the Bees got turned over going for it on 4th down. However the D came to rescue on the very next play. Some good up front work from GB student tackle Craig ‘BB’ Alexander and Reilly led to Lear tackling the running back for a safety, 9-0 Bees.
After a stalemate leading to several punts, the offense began to build up steam with Nightingale and Vanstone following rookie FB Niko Rowe blowing huge holes in the Cuda D. However, as the drive started looking promising, Bristol #85 read QB Christoph Cox and bit down on the route. 85 took the interception to the house for a pick-6 to keep the game alive. After a failed 2-point attempt the score became 9-6.
Again the sides exchanged punts after some solid defensive work, notably rookie LB James Vaughan-Turner intercepting a wayward pass from Cuda’s QB, until Bath broke the stalemate. This time Deji Alli led the redzone attack, breaking tackles en route to his second TD on the day. Again Hutchinson kicked through the XP to give Bath the 16-6 lead. However as the half began to close out Bristol pounced. A similarly well balanced attack with some serious gains from well-timed passes saw Cuda drive down the field, chewing up the clock as they went. A goal line stand began to accumulate until #7 broke through a sizeable hole produced by some good blocking for the score. Cuda again attempted the 2 point conversion but failed, resulting in Bath leading 16-12 at the half.
The third quarter was a scrappy affair until Bath seized the momentum again off another fumble recovery from Lear. Rookie RB Steve Haffenden aided the charge in the second half, with WRs Chris Hendon and Robert Hussey making some key grabs. Again, near the redzone, the Mervellous Alli stepped in to show his class making a great to bounce the run to outside and round a receivers block to score his hat trick extending the lead to 23-12.
The scrappy nature of the 3rd continued into the 4th with neither offense gaining much ground. Late in the 4th CB Tim Adams made a good read to grab an interception. From the interception Haffenden powered in a TD, with Hutch tacking on the XP, to give the final score of 30-12.
The offensive MVP on the day was Niko Rowe and the Defensive MVP was Joe Lear. Building on some great rookie performances and solid veteran play the Bees face a tough stretch with Cardiff Cobras on Wednesday and then the finale of their season against Exeter on Sunday.
Match report by Aaron Linley.