EDF TROPHY: Exeter Chiefs 19 Pertemps Bees 12

The margin of defeat gets smaller but sadly the outcome remains the same. Twickenham is only 120 miles from their Sharmans Cross stronghold but for Pertemps Bees it might as well be on the other side of the world.

The professional arm of the club has never played at the home of English rugby — it should be noted that their sister side Solihull did just that in 2005 — and neither will they this season despite turning in a superb performance against all the odds at Sandy Park.

Without their captain, forced to reshuffle their line-up just before kick-off and made to play a man short for 20 minutes, that Bees got within a score of Exeter is a credit to their players and coaching staff.

But it is little consolation for this gallant bunch of engineers, solicitors and bricklayers as they return to work this morning frustrated by the knowledge that for the third time in four years they have fallen at the final hurdle.

Where Newcastle pummelled them out of the Powergen Cup in 2004 and Bedford kicked them out of the Shield 12 months later, Exeter ground them out of the Trophy on Saturday.

The deficit has shrunk from 50 points to just seven in those three attempts yet it could be argued Bees should not even have been in arrears in their latest semi-final.

Had Matt Nuthall been able to find support for his scintillating 60-metre break late in the game Bees could have been level — ahead on tries scored.

Had Tom Court not become isolated when he drove to within three steps of the posts soon afterwards the score could have been tied.

And had Rod Petty beaten just one more defender as he sniped down the blindside he too would have gone over. That’s not to mention the three or four promising overlaps that weren’t accepted.

Big-money Exeter in their fancy ground barely had enough fingers to plug the dyke.

That is not to say this game was all one way traffic. To suggest so would be a disservice to the visitors’ heroic defence. For half of the first period and during long spells in the second, the Chiefs threw everything at Bees but had to settle for four Tony Yapp penalties.

In fact Exeter managed just one try, where they had scored two away at Leeds Tykes the week before and they needed the assistance of an undermanned defence to get that.

It came, four minutes into first half injury time, through their veteran No 8 Richard Baxter who put in a solid shift for his side when others around him wilted under intense scrutiny from the Herculean efforts of Akapusi Qera, Alex Davidson, Matt Miles and Will Matthews.

By that time Bees had turned the Exeter scrum into something about as productive as your average slot machine — 70p back for every pound staked — and had unsettled the hosts at the lineout.

They had also built a fully deserved 12-0 lead, though not through their early dominance.

Having opened the brighter of the two combatants Bees were pressed back until the quarter-hour when Nuthall — a brilliant broken field runner — snaffled Kevin Mitchell’s pass and began to eat into the 90 metres that separated him from the Exeter line.

The full back made it to halfway before he was caught whereupon he showed commendable fortitude by shaking off Jason Luff and setting off again. Forty metres later his impetus carried him over. Jon Higgins’ conversion from just inside the right touchline suggested something special was afoot.

They scored again almost immediately. Bees took quick ball off the top, Tristan Davies — a late replacement for the hamstrung Dave Knight — barged through two tackles, fed Higgins who in turn gave Kyle Palm an unguarded sideline.

A dozen points inside two minutes had even the surliest pessimist planning his weekend in London.

But the inevitable riposte came. Luff spilled the ball as he went over the line after 25 minutes and then Palm and Nuthall did supremely well to get under Joe Horn Smith as he tried to ground the ball.

However, with just one more attack to repel Bees lost their discipline and their openside when Qera crept into a ruck near his own line from an angle referee Nick Williams thought to be inappropriate.

The Fijian trudged forlornly back to the bench and could do nothing as Palm failed to stop Baxter. Yapp made it 12-7 and one suspected the momentum had swung.

The former Worcester fly half cut the deficit to two soon after the restart when Bees were harshly adjudged to have obstructed a kick chase.

Qera’s absence had cost his side ten points but as he returned to the fray he was replaced in the bin by Higgins who had allegedly prevented a quick tap penalty.

Bees had been back at full strength for such a short time the two miscreants virtually passed each other as they travelled in opposite directions. On 50 minutes Yapp punished Dan Tuohy — in his first game for two months — for pulling down a maul and then with 15 to go he made Petty pay dearly for his act of dissent by making it 16-12.

Exeter moved a converted try clear five minutes into added time as Palm was forced to hold on when he should have spun wide to launch a counter attack.

Still the Midlanders weren’t done and back they came again only for Court to knock on with his side’s final act. What do Bees have to do to make it to Twickenham?

EXETER: Breeze; Luff, Fatialofa, Murdoch, Kingdom; Yapp, Barrett; Liddington, Blythe, Horn-Smith, Brown, Hanks, Walker, Willis, Baxter. Replacements: Jenkins, Bennett, Slade, Miller, Wilson, Staniforth, Grove.
PERTEMPS BEES: Nuthall, Spee, Billig, Davies (Martin, 36), Palm, Higgins, Petty (Baxter, 68), Long, (Dunning, 72), Miles, Court, Gabey, Davidson (Halavatau, 61), Mathews (Tuohy, 49), Qera, Larson. Replacement: Lewis.
Referee: N Williams (RFU).