Bees 15-19 Coventry

The Bees welcomed back full back Dave Knight to the team, and experimented by introducing flanker Ben Gerry for his first start of the season in his new position of hooker.

The first ten minutes saw almost constant pressure from the Bees, a distinct improvement in attitude compared to recent performances; but the good work was all wasted as Coventry were gifted a try by silly errors and refereeing mistakes. Missed tackles by Bees from a Coventry break-out resulted in a line-out on their own 22, which was lost from their own throw-in. The ref then appeared to miss a knock on by Coventry, allowing their winger to score in the corner.

The Bees regained the initiative and recovered with two penalties from Tim Walsh following good forward link work, only to fall behind again to an offside-looking try from Coventry no 4, James Percival, which was converted.

To their credit, Bees recovered, and fly half Tim Walsh converted two further penalties to level the scores. The Bees forwards were matching their opponents in set scrums and in loose play, but were being exposed in line-outs, losing a number of their own put-ins. Ben Gerry was moved from hooker back to his old position of flanker at the end of the first half, which brought more stability to set plays. Half-time: 12-12



The Bees matched Coventry in the second half for endeavour and effort, but seldom looked likely to make a break-through. When the backs occasionally did make breaks, they generally failed to gain ground or create space for the wingers. The forwards held their own in loose play, but rarely managed to secure fast ball, so that the backs usually faced an organised Coventry defence, even on second or later phase possession.

At the other end, Coventry took advantage of a rare opportunity to score a try from a line-out drive after 50 minutes, which was converted. Tim Walsh capitalised on Bees pressure to pull back three points from a fifth penalty, bringing the score to 15 – 19.

Bees’ best opportunity to win came late on when they were awarded a penalty near the Coventry 10 metre line. With time running out, and a 4 point deficit, fly-half Tim Walsh chose to kick for goal instead of going for the corner & a forward move, only to watch his effort flagged wide, to the amazement and disappointment of Bees fans behind the posts.

Final score Bees 15: Coventry 19

This was a more promising effort by the Bees, following on from the poor second half performance against Rotherham, but the score flattered them. Tim Walsh’s good kicking performance disguised the fact that they were outscored by three tries to nil, and for the second league game in succession, failed to score a try against organised, but unimpressive opponents. Phil Maynard will surely be worried about the lack of penetration in the team and the ease with which an average Coventry outfit nullified them.

Joss Josypenko
27 March 2005

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