After their four match winning run came to an end last weekend, Birmingham & Solihull are aiming to get back to winning ways this Saturday (27th February KO 2.15pm) with the visit of Old Northamptonians.

Speaking after last week’s narrow defeat against promotion-chasing Old Halesonians, Bees’ Coach Paul ‘Willy’ Williams reckons that the game against Old Ns could be an even greater challenge than last week's fixture.

“Given their current league position – in third relegation slot and 8 points adrift of Longton above them - ON's will be striving hard to avoid the drop and, as we know to our own cost, can give any side in this league a good game on their day, counting Old Hales and Bromsgrove amongst their scalps.”
For the other half of the coaching duo Dave ‘Spanner’ Spencer, there were many positives that came from the narrow defeat at Old Halesonians last week.

“After a below average first half performance from us, we certainly turned things around as the game progressed. However, with all the pressure that we exerted on them throughout the second half and after many missed opportunities, it made it all the more painful for us all not to seal the win, as we could not quite get over the finishing line.”

“After clawing back the 10 point half time deficit to 10-8, Old Hales - to their credit -defended really well against us, especially in the last 20 minutes of the game. However we secured a very important bonus point, showing great team spirit and togetherness and let’s hope we can keep developing this for the rest of the season.”

Old Ns won the corresponding fixture 22-13 over at Northampton back in November, coming back from being 0-10 down after 15 minutes.
“Today's game will prove another big test for us” said Spanner. “Whilst not there in person in November, we have watched the video of that game closely. We know that they are a team with good spirit and well capable – as we know to our cost – of proving a handful for any side.”

“We also know that any club from a rugby-mad town like Northampton will have plenty of guts and pride. We will all need to keep pushing each other to produce the kind of performance that we know is needed to be successful and to allow us to continue developing and progressing.”

There are a number of changes in this week’s squad for the Old Ns game. In the forwards, Kurtis Payne starts at tight head with Pete Koziot dropping to the bench and there is a start too at No.8 for Mike Stephens. In the backs, Chris Fensome comes in for Sam Davenport on the wing. Two players – Mitch Lee and Jack Jolly - make welcome returns from injury to feature as substitutes.

Birmingham & Solihull team selected v Old Northamptonians Saturday 27th February 2.15 pm KO:- Alex O’Malley, Chris Fensome, Arron Wilson, Jimmy Oliver, Nyle Beckett, Mitchell McGahan, Martin Hooker , Michael Stephens, Ashley Scriven, Darren Forder, Matt Spink, Chris Goddard ©, Kurtis Payne, Zane Raimondi and Dan Toth. Replacements – Pete Koziot, Mitch Lee and Jack Jolly.