Pertemps Bees 12 Sedgley Park 6

Logic suggests that when the bottom two teams in the division go head to head, the product of their endeavours will be high on tension and low on attacking flair. And so it proved.

Pertemps Bees and Sedgley Park started the day as National One's lowest-ranked sides and spent the entire first half demonstrating how accustomed they have become to defending and the extent of their problems in scoring tries.

The first 40 minutes really was a wretched affair and got the scoreline it deserved, 0-0. The visitors spent the first 20 minutes dominating possession and territory but were ultimately bashing their heads against Bees' well-constructed brick wall. All they had to show for their efforts was one missed penalty by Phil Jones.

Then from minutes 20-40 it was the hosts' turn as they spent virtually the entirety of that period camped within a few powerful steps of the visitors' posts.

Unlike Park they actually looked as though they were only one phase from crossing the line and - but for a wrong option, clumsy hand or last-ditch defensive intervention - they could have done so on at least three occasions.

But, for both teams, having spent most of the preceding four months repelling boarders, they were able to retain their clean sheets and they should be applauded for that.

And so when Gareth Copsey blew his whistle for the final time in the opening half - it was the first time he has refereed Bees since they almost blew a gasket at his handling of the London Welsh debacle on September 17 - the prospect of an entire scoreless match was all too real.

There was absolutely no sign of the drama that was to follow. Bees eventually crafted a way through 12 minutes after the restart, following their first kick at goal which Ben Harvey dropped short, when Will Matthews was sent in by Dave Knight.

That inspired something of a scoring frenzy, Jones kicked a pair of goals as the home side's press defence came up too quickly and for the last quarter Bees were destined to contemplate a dreadful home defeat.

They tried to fashion something worthwhile but all too often a line-out throw would be wonky or they'd lose possession in a driving maul and another attacking platform would collapse beneath their feet.

Then, with the last play of the game, Matthews made a half-break and fed the indefatigable Cae Trayhern who should have been tackled 20 metres out.

Instead, through sheer cussedness, the openside hauled two assailants to within a stride of the posts and the dam hadn't just sprung one leak, gaps were appearing from one touchline to the next.

Harvey cleared and went right where Allan Gill was tagged by his man but not before he popped up to Tim Walsh. Just as the Australian was about to be wrestled into touch he reached out and dotted down. Time on the clock: 83 minutes - Score: 10-6. Result: Salvation.

With the pressure off Harvey bashed over the conversion from the 'wrong' touch-line as though the result had never been in doubt.

Bees director of rugby, Phil Maynard, puffed his cheeks in relief and then beamed with pride.

"Someone is going to have to cut our lads' arms and legs off to beat us," he said, conjuring an image of Monty Python's Black Knight playing full-back with defiant dis-regard for his limbless state.

"But that's the way it has to be if we want to finish halfway up the league."

This win hasn't lifted them that far, yet. They are 11th but only two points clear of the relegation zone, though the pressure isn't quite as suffocating as it has been.

Maynard went on to observe that this victory has not kept them up, nor would defeat have put them down.

But he cannot deny it has had a concertina effect on the situation at the southern end of the division.

They are a win from Otley in tenth and Doncaster have been plunged into the mix after their loss at Coventry.

It will also have a massive impact on Bees' confidence. A loss would have been utterly debilitating in that regard but they can go to the Butts Park Arena in a fortnight's time with genuine optimism.

Most of the credit for that has to go to the Solihull side's work ethic. At no point did their heads' drop, even when they were trailing and being bashed from pillar to post by a massive opposition pack.

"Nobody has thumped them this year which is an indication of how tough this division is," Maynard said. "They would run riot in National Two, just look at the size of their pack - our blokes were all cut and bashed to pieces." Broken then, but not bowed.