RFU Championship: Birmingham & Solihull Bees 9 London Welsh 34
If familiarity breeds contempt then Russell Earnshaw must be at risk of developing a physical manifestation of his aversion for watching his side stutter and splutter their way through their matches.
For the fifth week running Bees started well only to not so much take their foot off the gas as to lose the pedal - or indeed the foot - altogether, as they allowed a 6-3 lead to turn into a five-try drubbing.
In some ways it almost be easier to take if they were steamrollered from minutes one through 80. But that's rarely the case.
They possess a decent set of forwards, competent half-backs and a wholehearted commitment to attacking out wide that means they can offer anyone in the Championship a decent workout. It's the hope that hurts, though.
Bees have led but still lost in four of their last six matches and so it was against Welsh. Having survived the early onslaught and their own ill-discipline, Earnshaw's men competed superbly at the break-down to push the visitors back into their own territory.
Mark Woodrow's boot chipped away at the Welsh edifice and by the 35th minute the hosts were a score up. Their advantage far from a super-structure but it was evidence they could more than live with the high-rolling Londoners.
And then it all went wrong. The Exiles' openside Lee Beach went under the sticks just before half time and rising star Marland Yarde followed him soon after the restart.
Lock Mike Powell did likewise in the 51st minute and three minutes after that Paul Sampson dashed in at the corner. Four tries in less than a quarter had swung the afternoon irrevocably and all the early effort had been wasted.
Once again it was their tendency to fall off tackles that undid theDamson Park outfit but it wasn't just a case of being out-paced or overpowered, with individuals shooting out of their defensive alignment Welsh were given no end of help.
And that's the frustrating thing. So many of Bees' wounds are self-inflicted, the result of opposition pressure admittedly, but managable if in possession of a cool head.
As a result of going behind Bees became more frantic, slinging the ball down their threequarter line like a radioactive potato with more than a little of the headless chicken about their endeavour.
And it didn't help that in the second half whenever they got into the Welsh 22, they suffered a set-piece malfunction. Twice they lost scrums against the head and they lost equally as many attacking lineouts.
All of which leaves them bottom of the pile, contemplating a visit from Cornish Pirates in a week's time and with Earnshaw in danger of developing a tic at a time when all he wants is to give his team a tick.
BEES: Foden; Tanumi (Hunt 51), Lawson, Petty (Grove 51), Culpin; Woodrow, Williams; Dugard (Sperandio78), McMillan (Gerry 71), Tau (Waller 28-32, 62), Taulava (Sanderson 67), Griffiths, Denbee, Preece (Clayton 51), Connolly
WELSH: Sampson; Yarde, Lewis J, Tongauhia, Gibson; Thomas (Stevenson 64), Lewis R; Lahiff (Ward 16), Breeze (Nelson 62), Tideswell, Powell (Williams 40-43), Corker (Williams 74), Russell (Taione 54), Beach, Fisher. Replacements: Claassens, Drauniniu
Referee: Llyr Apgeraint Roberts (RFU)
