By Paul Bolton, Midlands Regional Press Officer

Pertemps Bees, the club formerly known as Birmingham & Solihull, produced the biggest cup upset in the professional era when they dumped Zurich Premiership champions London Wasps out of the Powergen Cup with a thoroughly-deserved 28-24 quarter-final win at the Causeway Stadium.

The Bees, a part time National One club who admit they have the worst facilities in that league, stunned Wasps with their passion, commitment and composure in a thrilling tie. Wasps ultimately paid the price for fielding an understrength side because their second string players could not cope with the tenacity of the Bees who grew stronger as the match went on.

Mark Woodrow, a 23-year-old fly-half who works as an electrician in Bristol, was the Bees’ hero as he landed six penalties, four of them in the last half hour, in an assured performance for such an inexperienced player.

But it was Nick Baxter, the leading try scorer in National League history, who saved the day for the Bees. Baxter scored his first try in three months just before half time, but it was his try-saving tackle, that denied Wasps centre Mark Denney an interception score, that turned the game and summed up the Bees’ never-say-die attitude.

The Bees other try came from replacement winger Aaron Takarangi who hid personal grief to play in the game. Takarangi’s father-in-law died two days before the tie and he delayed his flight back to New Zealand to attend the funeral to take his place in the squad for the biggest match in the Midlands club’s history.