Davidson grabs victory for Bees after Ionians pressure repelled

Hull Ionians 11Bradford & Bingley 14

THE Bees had two players sin-binned but the back-row of Guy Ford, Tom Cokell and Tom Ball were outstanding in repelling the Ionians attacks.

They were penned in for the final half hour but conceded just one penalty before a stoppage-time clearance kick and a dropped pass gave the Bees the position for a penalty which Tom Davidson kicked from 35 metres to take the lead.

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There was still time for Ionians to camp on the line and gain a penalty to level the scores, but from wide out, the kick failed and the Bees had won through their greater determination.

Joe Wright put Ionians ahead with a penalty but Tom Davidson levelled the scores.

Ionians continued to dominate possession and a deep kick from James Ferguson plus a follow-up tackle from James Greene forced an attacking lineout leading to a scrum. The drive was held but Adam Thomas made the break and Chris Cusack followed up to score.

The Bees then charged down a clearance kick for John Graham to touch down and level the scores.

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The Bees were lively after the break and deserved the lead through a penalty by Davidson.

The next 30 minutes was all Ionians pressure but they were let down by handling errors. The Bees' second yellow card for killing the ball five metres out saw Wright level before the visitors stole victory.

Loughbrough Students 41

Hull RUFC 17

Loughborough continued to prove their promotion credentials after defeating an under strength Hull, who had three players sin-binned.

Hull shocked the hosts with a scintillating early run from Danny Smith, who cleared two players before diving past the last man on the right wing for Guy Martinson to convert.

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A dangerous tackle from Maea David let the hosts back in after 25 minutes when the penalty was scored by George Drake. Two minutes later, Ashley Smith got the students into the lead with a solo try.

Hull regained the lead five minutes later with a penalty from David but Loughborough came back instantly with their second try after a catch-and-drive was finished by Camilo Parilli. Loughborough extended their lead before the break when a close-range lineout was driven over for Phil Burgess to score.

Murray Allen crossed 10 minutes into the second half but Tevita Vaikona was up in support to score a try after a run inside from the right by Smith.

Loughborough collected their bonus point with two late tries by Ashley Smith and Murray's second as stamina proved to be the difference.

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